'Hockey India's move is contempt of court'

Two state hockey bodies have expressed astonishment over Hockey India's official communication asking them to furnish details of their top officials for the World Cup accreditation, terming the move as "contempt of court".

Earlier this month, HI secretary general Narinder Batra had sent a letter to state units asking the presidents and secretary generals to download the World Cup accreditation forms from the national federation's website and submit the documents at the earliest to arrange for the passes.

The letter also mentioned that all the presidents and secretary generals of state bodies would be presented with ceremonial blazers during the February 28-March 13 mega event and asked for measurements for that puspose.

However, this did not go well with the Karnataka and Chandigarh Hockey Associations, who said they will not respond to the letter as HI affiliation process is sub-judice following Rajasthan High Court's stay order, which led to the postponement of the national federation's election.

"I am surprised to receive such a communication. We are not going to respond officially because of Rajasthan High court's verdict on HI due to which the election was deferred," Karnataka Hockey Association president R K Shetty said.

"HI has committed 'contempt' by issuing such a letter when the matter is not settled by the court as yet," he said.

Chandigarh Hockey Association secretary Y P Vora too said the matter was pending in court and would not respond to HI's communication.