'CWG-tainted' Lalit Bhanot elected IOA General Secretary unopposed, churns fresh row
person is guilty or not. A person until convicted is free to contest. Bhanot has not been proven guilty as yet," said Chautala.
"One thing I would like to clarify in the case of Bhanot is that the IOC did not write any letter to the IOA directly. Jagdish Tytler had written a letter to the IOC asking whether Bhanot can contest the elections or not. The IOC replied to the letter addressing it to Tytler and not to the IOA", he said.
"The IOC's reply was forwarded by Tytler to everyone from his personal mail id. In this whole case, Bhanot did not receive any letter from the IOC but it was Tytler who had raised questions on his contesting the elections," Chautala said.
Bhanot, who was jailed along with former IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and VK Verma in connection with the CWG corruption scam, was elected unopposed despite serious objections from the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC Ethics Commission's recommendations stated that tainted officials like Bhanot cannot be part of the Olympic movement.
Bhanot, who spent 11 months in jail and later released on bail, was the only candidate in the fray after Volleyball Federation of India Secretary General K Murugan and Judo Federation of India General Secretary Mukesh Kumar decided to withdraw their candidature.
The IOA may have elected its new office bearers, but the threat of them being banned by the IOC still exists. The IOC had said it will propose the suspension of the IOA at its executive board meeting
