The lawyers obviously know that the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club committed “fraud” and that its involvement in the affairs of the FMSCI is obviously “illegal”.
Among the many controversies that have plagued the Federation of Motoring Clubs of India (FMSCI) for the past few decades, not only does it take the cake, it takes the total bakery along with the baker. The news that representatives of a non-existent club continue to serve on the Federation’s Apex Council for approximately 50 years, and the existing candidate adjusts for the FMSCI presidency for two separate terms, as a founding member may seem like fiction. Only it is not.
Amidst the most recent controversy in Indian motor racing is the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC), which was established in 1954 and registered under the Business Registration Act of 1860. However, from 1963 onwards, the club did not renew its registration and in June On September 26 In 1970, the Coimbatore District Secretary dissolved the framework and the records were destroyed for non-execution.
When the FMSCI was established in 1971 through five “founding persons”, it included an L. G Ramamurthi from Coimbatore. Subsequently, the founders: BI Chandhok (Madras Motor Sports Club), LG Ramamurthi (Coimbatore Auto Sports Club), AD Jayram (Bangalore Motor Sports Club), Ajay Pat Singhania (Indian Automotive Racing Club) and Suresh Kumar (Calcutta Motor Sports Club) ) – resolved to representatives of the motoring clubs they represented. Thus, the five clubs have become the “founding members” of the federation. From the documents noted via Newsclick it is clear that the CCAC ceased to exist even before the creation of the FMSCI in 1971.
In effect, this means that the representatives of the CASC to the FMSCI as a founding member, in addition to its current representative, J Prithviraj, who served as president of the federation for two separate terms and served on the Board of Governors, perpetuated a fraud. for almost 50 years and continued to exert force within the most sensible governance framework of motorsports in India. Despite the lack of legal status, the CCAC nominee has been part of radical decisions such as the appointment of the federation president, voting at annual general meetings, and other governance matters. Founding member clubs have a permanent vote and a seat on the Council.
A misrepresentation through CASC about its legal standing became mild last year when J Balamurugan, co-founder of another Coimbatore-based club, Spitfire Automotive Performance, filed an RTI with the district’s registry office. The main component of the reaction to the RTI is recorded in the minutes of the FMSCI Council meeting n ° 153-4 / 2020, held on October 26, 2020. During the meeting, Vicky Chandhok, representing Madras Motor Sports Club, objected to the presence of Prithviraj once the quorum was established.
“[Sic] Mr. Vicky Chandhok said that no one is asking or advocating to remove ACCS as a member. She said that until CASC cleans its facilities, the election of CASC to Council is the subject of Council resolution pursuant to the last paragraph of the Returning Officer resolution. She added that according to the recent RTI inquiry from M / s Spitfire, the CCAC was dissolved in 1970, which means that the CCAC no longer exists. Therefore, they cannot be part of the Board of Governors. Although no one is in favor of the CCAC, the CCAC wants to put its space in order, renew society and return to the Council, ”says the report in Min. No. 1.
The consultation discussed in duration under number 17 of the Min. It indicates that Chandhok sent his objection to the scrutineer of the AGM on October 12 of the federation in which the new officials were elected. It also indicates that when the current president, Akbar Ebrahim, asked Prithviraj to leave the assembly because the council had a decision to make, he refused to comply, saying it was not a necessity because he did not have the right to vote before the CCAC matter. . It has been resolved. In addition, the CCAC representative argued that “the renewal of society is the issue between the club and society and the FMSCI has nothing to do with it.
CASC has continuously provided misleading data during the KYC procedure on other occasions. According to the assembly notes, “Mr. VickyChandhok said that his KYC document states that the Company’s renewal procedure is pending in accordance with KYC from August 4, 2020. ”
Commissioner Farokh, representative of the founding member club, the Indian Automotive Racing Club, noted that earlier in 2011 and 2017, the CASC affirmed its legal standing as an arrangement of users (AOP). A PDO is an absolutely different legal entity that falls under the definition of user in Section 2 (31) of the Income Tax Act of 1961.
Interestingly, one of the board members, Sanjay Sharma, a director of JK Tire Motorsport and a board member as a representative of the Delhi-based Performance Cars Racing Trust, opposed the suspension of Prithviraj from the board. Array His oral observations recorded in the assembly notes show that Ebrahim had shown at KYC CASC the newest thing in being a corporation.
“He asked what CASC said in their KYC. The President declared that they had declared themselves a Society and had given it the number 38 of 1959 “, read the notes of the meeting. It is important that Sanjay Sharma, in his capacity as director of JK Tire Motorsport, is the sponsor of the JK Tire-FMSCI National Racing Championship, and having a seat on the board is a serious clash of interest, if the criteria are applied. the rest of the national sports federations remain within the framework of motor sport.
Other board members such as Sita Raina, representing the Calcutta Motor Sports Club, also weighed in on Sharma’s side, saying that the regulations related to the founding members will need to be superseded in the Association article, before any action is taken. . can be undertaken. But Chandhok pointed out that segment 42 provides the board with the force to suspend a member.
As a result of deliberations, the board reached a resolution by a 6-3 majority that the ACCS candidate would be suspended until the company’s 38th number was reinstated. The club may continue to host FMSCI sanctioned occasions, its standing as a founding member will be restored once the company’s registration is renewed, and functionality issues that a club collects for hosting occasions will remain. pending until you have resolved your corporate standing. But the CCAC candidate continued to object that the board did not have the power to suspend the club under the settlement article.
Interestingly, CASC was incorporated as a limited liability company on February 13, 2017 with CIN number U92410TZ2017NPL028502, but chose to be incorporated through its nominee, Prithviraj, as a DOP in the same year.
On December 16, Dr. B Ravi, Secretary General, wrote a letter to Ebrahim, who was seen via Newsclick, expressing his opinion on the council’s resolution to suspend the CCAC. He noted that the FMSCI agreement article would possibly remain silent in its definition of “member”, since it is now governed by the 2013 Companies Act, the definition in article 2 (55) will apply.
“[Sic] The dissolution of the corporate implies the legal termination of the corporate lifestyles. The general precept of the law is dissolution, the corporate registration will be canceled and the corporate will cease to exist as a legal entity, ”Ravi said in his letter.
Thus, it is clear from the data in the cited documents that the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, because there is no [one] entity. The mere fact that the convocation of the club still unearths [a] position in the list of founding members, does not give the right to continue being so when they cease to exist in the eyes of the Law. Consequently, they will not enjoy the rights that correspond to them. to the founding partners by distinctive feature of the social statute “.
A from Secretary General B. Ravi’s opinion can be viewed here.
Following the resolution of Ravi’s council and council, the CCAC received a court order opposing its suspension until January 11. In response to a request for comment, Prithiviraj in a WhatsApp message said: “The case is in court and it is subdued. Once this is done, we can give our opinion. “
Newslick has also reached out to FMSCI President Ebrahim, but has yet to respond.
The legal experts that Newsclick has contacted make it clear that the CASC has committed “fraud” and that its participation in the affairs of the federation is clearly “illegal”.
“If the club has continuously and deliberately submitted data in its KYC, this is clearly a case of fraud with the aim of illicit profit. The FMSCI, if it so wishes, has transparent reasons to bring legal action against the club under other sections of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), ”said Viduspath Singhania, co-founder of the law firm. of sports, Krida Legal.
It should be noted that on June 24, 2020, the Delhi High Court in a 10-year petition filed through lawyer and activist, Rahul Mehra, for the cleanup of the Indian sports administration, ordered the Ministry of Sports and Youth to suspend the popularity of 54 federations. The ministry through its letter of June 25 canceled the popularity of the FMSCI. But in December 2020, the ministry submitted an affidavit to the Delhi High Court, declaring that “during the one (year) era, those NSFs shall comply with their constitutions and their design of government. with the Sporting Code. As a result, the FMSCI and six other NSFs received annual popularity from the Sports Department.
When the CCAC misrepresentation factor came to the attention of Mehra Newsclick, it called it “illegal” and blamed the ministry for allowing the roving federation to get away with it. with bad government.
“Of course, it is illegal. But the federation, in fact, all federations are meant to do that kind of thing. The challenge is, what are the law enforcement agencies doing? Instead, the branch files affidavits in court in favor of those federations. It’s just not the motorsports federation’s challenge, it’s a much more widespread challenge. It turns out that the ministry is more interested in carrying out the last rites of the sporting code, ”Mehra said.
Clearly, for the most productive reasons known to the FMSCI board, it has been too lenient on the CCAC and its candidate for such a blatant misrepresentation of facts. A close reading of the October 26 board meeting minutes obviously gives the impression that some members, with commercial interests in motorsport properties, are ready to protect the CCAC despite an act of gross omission. . If this is not bad governance of the sports administration, then we don’t know what it is. Maybe the total bakery is compromised.
(The author, former editor of Sports Illustrated India, is a freelance journalist in New Delhi)
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