Mahipal Singh takes kabaddi federation to court, alleges fraud and nepotism

Representation Image -  Mahipal Singh has alleged that there has been widespread corruption in kabaddi right from the district to the national levels.
Representation Image - Mahipal Singh has alleged that there has been widespread corruption in kabaddi right from the district to the national levels.

Kabaddi is a sport that has grown manifold over the last four years, ever since the inception of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). While the popular league has helped further popularise the sport among both urban and the rural populace, India has continued its dominance on the international level.

On the face of it, things seem to be going just fine in the sport. However, a deeper look into the operations of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) seems to reveal a completely different picture.

A number of charges have been leveled against the AKFI, in a petition filed by former Kabaddi player Mahipal Singh.

Of kabaddi and nepotism

One of the major issues that have been brought out by the Mahipal Singh's petition is that the AKFI is allegedly in violation of the national sports code, which does not allow an official to hold a post at a national sports federation for more than three terms.

The petition alleges that the AKFI has not held any valid election for 28 years, with former president Janardan Singh Gahlot being at the helm of affairs for 21 years. After his tenure, his wife Dr. Mridul Bhadauria Gahlot, who happens to be a gynecologist by profession, took over the reign.

"There has never been any election for the post of the managing committee of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India and the office bearers have always been appointed unopposed for consecutive terms," said legal expert Bharat Nagar.

Former Haryana Kabaddi Federation president Vijay Prakash also went on to allege that the Gahlot faction amended certain federation laws to further their own interests.

"In 2012, they decided to tweak certain bylaws of the AKFI, and named Mr. Gahlot as the lifetime president," said Prakash. "This is not something that is allowed by the Sports Code."

While Mridul Bhadauria Gahlot still remains at the helm of AKFI, the petition filed by Mahipal Singh has moved the Delhi High court to nullify the appointments that have been made without holding transparent elections, where certain state bodies have more than one vote.

Janardhan Singh Gehlot
Janardhan Singh Gehlot

Busting a fake certificate racket

Yet another allegation that has been hurled at AKFI is that a number of its officials offer tournament participation certificates for a certain sum of money. This is allegedly done in order to help the beneficiaries of such certificates get various posts in government institutions.

"There is a racket flourishing where non-players pay Rs 40-50 lakh and are allowed to participate in international kabaddi events," said Mahipal Singh. "And people receive a handsome prize of Rs 1 or 2 crores from the government when the team wins something."

Vijay Prakash even went on to flourish two certificates that claimed that two players had participated in a national-level tournament. However, an RTI on the details of the players who had participated in the tournament revealed that these players' names were not even on the squad list of their states.

A case has also been lodged, at the Rohini Court, against seven Delhi Police constables, who had allegedly used fake certificates to get their current postings.

Mahipal Singh and his faction even went on to take the matter to the doorsteps of Sports minister, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. The former kabaddi player stated that he has held talks with the silver medal-winning Olympian, who had assured him that the Sports Ministry will take action once a direction comes from the court.

Former HKF chief Vijay Prakash also went on to state that he was removed from his post after he brought up the issue of the fake certificates with the AKFI. "These fake certificates are issued across all levels of kabaddi, be it at the district, or the state, or even the national level," he stated.

Sportskeeda contacted AKFI assistant secretary Deoraj Chaturvedi about the aforementioned allegations. While he did not give much importance to these allegations, Chaturvedi went on to say, "If these allegations are indeed true, let there be a proper probe on this matter. If they find anyone guilty, then proper action can be taken against such people."

The case between Mahipal Singh and AKFI has been going on for some time now, and it remains to be seen what the courts decide on both the allegations of nepotism (or violation of the Sports Code) and issuing fake certificates.

Now, with a court hearing scheduled on May 16, the picture is sure to get clearer soon.

Edited by Abhishek Arora