The 76-year-old National Sports Club of India (NSCI) is in deep crisis. The club president Pankaj Khandelwal has declared “emergency” vide section 97 of the its rules and has stated in an urgent letter dated February 13 that all the employees in Mumbai and Delhi will now report to him. He has also stated the annual general body meeting scheduled for February 21 stands deferred.
Khandelwal claimed that the “Bombay region of the club has suffered a loss of Rs 28 cr FY 2023-24 and has carried forward a loss of Rs 463 cr. Furthermore, the auditors remarks……reveals that the club has trade payable liabilities of Rs 50.53 cr at Bombay region.” He has also stated that a bank overdraft of Rs 30.82 cr has been taken “seemingly without authority.”
He has constituted an advisory committee to investigate the reason for the losses and also a disciplinary panel to problem cases of alleged insubordination, vandalism etc. However, the allegations were refuted by Atul Maru, Mumbai regional secretary of the Club, who sent documents through the CEO T.C. Krishnaswamy to prove his contention that the institution as being run on proper lines.
The latest dispute in the club refers to the venue of the proposed AGM. While it was earlier decided to hold it in Delhi, Khandelwal, following a legal notice sent by an advocate- member Gautam Dutta, decided to hold it in Mumbai. Dutta had observed that the venue of the AGM should be alternatively held in Delhi and Mumbai.
Meanwhile, several members have drafted a resolution to be circulated to central council members of the club under rule 66 reaffirming the decision of the executive committee that the AGM will be held in Delhi on February 21. They have also repudiated the letter dated February 12 sent by the club secretary Sanjay Berry to the CEOs T.C. Krishnaswamy and Ashim Khanna of Mumbai and Delhi regions respectively which stated that the AGM would be held in Mumbai.
They said two-thirds of the members of the executive committee have disapproved the “unilateral” decisions of Khandelwal and Berry. It is also proposed to pass a vote of no-confidence against Khandelwal and Berry.
On Friday, The Free Press Journal reported that NSCI shifted the AGM to Mumbai, which was earlier scheduled to be held in New Delhi on February 21. The decision was taken after Gautam Dutta, an advocate member of the club served a legal notice to the club alleging contempt of the Delhi High Court’s order.
While the the club’s secretary Sanjay Berry announced the shifting of AGM following the president’s direction, the club replied to Dutta’s legal notice and refuted his allegations stating that the executive committee has the sole discretion to decide the venue of the AGM. Krishnaswamy, the CEO of the club’s Mumbai region, also wrote to the president and secretary stating that Dutta’s perception is misplaced and the change in venue at the eleventh hour would cause serious loss of revenue to the club.
According to the NSCI central council’s vice president Bhavna Bafna, 17 of the 23 executive committee members were in favour of holding the AGM in Delhi.
Vice president of the club Bhavna Bafna said the declaration of emergency was invalid. “The allegations made in the said communication are false and cast aspersions on the office bearers of the club. The purported declaration of emergency appears to be self-serving, against the spirit of the club’s rules and regulations. The direction to all te employees of the club to report directly to Mr. Khandelwal is beyond the powers of the president of the club,” Bafna stated.
Berry told the GPlus on Friday: “I am the honorary secretary-general of the club both for Delhi and Mumbai and hence the competent authority under the constitution of the club. I am not answerable to all and sundry. Constitution is supreme.” The club has 18,000 members in Mumbai and 5,000 in Delhi.
