Himachal Pradesh High Court Directs BFI To Allow Anurag Thakur's Nomination In Its Polls

Former sports minister Anurag Thakur's bid to contest the Boxing Federation of India's presidential election was brought back on track after the Himachal Pradesh High Court stayed his disqualification from the Electoral College and directed the BFI to extend the date of nominations to enable his candidature. Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur, was declared ineligible after a March 7 order by BFI President Ajay Singh which stated that only elected members were qualified to be a part of the electoral process.

Thakur was seeking to represent Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association in the EC and was declared not to be an elected member.

However, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel on Thursday ruled that the Electoral College approved by Returning Officer R K Gauba on March 13, which left out Thakur, "is prima facie bad and not sustainable in law." "In this backdrop, balance of convenience is also in favour of the petitioners and if interim, as prayed for by the petitioners is not granted, then irreparable loss shall be caused to them," the order stated.

"...as an ad-interim measure, this Court stays the operation of Notice, dated 07.03.2025, as well as the rejection of nomination of one of the two nominated members...namely, Mr. Anurag Singh Thakur..." The BFI chief said he would decide his next course of action after going through the 34-page order.

"We are still studying the order and based on legal advice, we will appeal the decision," Singh told PTI.

The court directed BFI to treat the names of Thakur and another HPBA official Rajesh Bhandari as "valid nomination for the Electoral College." It stated that the BFI President issued the March 7 order "without any authority and without any power".

The court order paved the way