In the battle for one-upmanship against All India Chess Federation president Venketrama Raja, secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan evidently rode on 'majority support' in the crucial General Body meeting here, with the house endorsing every decision to his liking.
The meeting chaired by Raja, confirmed the election on February 9 in Ahmedabad. On December 14, Raja had announced February 10 as the election day in Chennai.
For the first time after the feud broke out between Raja and Chauhan, the supporters of both sides came face to face in a meeting, attended by Government Observer Satyajit Sankrit.
It may be recalled that Raja’s supporters attended the GB meeting in Chennai on December 14 and those backing Chauhan reached the Central Council Meeting at Gurugram on December 22.
According to Sports Ministry’s December 16 directive, the GB meeting called by Chauhan on December 22 stood postponed to this day. As a result, the agendas of the GB meetings called by Raja and Chauhan were combined.
On the matter of ‘forgery’ in the Utilization Certificate submitted to the Ministry with regard to the 2018 National sub-junior chess championship in Kolkata, complainant Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua and defendant International Master Atanu Lahiri presented their case.
It was decided AICF will file a FIR against Lahiri. Ironically, in October, a three-member AICF enquiry committee gave Lahiri a clean chit.
Lahiri said, “I am happy both Barua and me want a fair enquiry. When I learnt about the allegation of forgery, I filed a FIR with the Kolkata Police in late November. Soon the truth will be out.”
A delighted Barua said, “For the first time, I got an opportunity to present my case before the house. It was rightly decided to declare AICF’s clean chit to Lahiri as null and void. Now, an independent probe by a Kolkata judge should bring out the truth.”
According to AICF joint secretary Naresh Sharma, “The house accepted Chauhan’s detailed response to the show-cause notice issued by Raja and treated the matter as closed. It rejected the four-member committee formed on December 14 to assist the President till elections. The proposal on Chess in Schools was passed.”
The minutes of the GB meeting held on December 14, the Central Council Meeting in December 22 and the one held here on Saturday, will be presented to Madras High Court when the matter comes up for hearing on January 3.
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