The Uttarakhand Olympic Association (UOA) has accused the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) of falsely implicating IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta in a case of drunken driving. Mehta was arrested in Glasgow after being tagged to the charge a couple of days ago.
“Some former IOA office bearers who had been at the helm of IOA affairs for three to four decades might have a hand in this malicious attempt,” alleged Mukherjee Nirvan, honorary secretary UOA, while talking to The Pioneer. “Now, as they are no longer in positions to dictate terms as far as the functioning of the organisation is concerned, they are acting maliciously against people like Mehta who are now at its helm. They seem hell-bent on maligning him as a prelude to have him removed from IOA,” he added.
“He should not be held guilty until the charges levelled against him are proved. We must keep in view the fact that attempts to tag him to false and fabricated cases are nothing new. He has remained a figure subjected to shenanigans. However, he always came out clean. This time, too, we are sure he would come with his image remaining unblemished,” he further said.
Rajeev Mehta, a native of Haldwani in Uttarakhand, had been in the thick of controversies many a time. According to his admirers, he was instrumental in organising State sports meets twice in the past. However, his critics say charges of irregularities kept on haunting him during and in the aftermath of the 2002 State sports meet.
Prior to his stint as IOA Secretary General, Mehta had held important positions in several sports associations operating across the State. Those associated with sports, however, say he keeps dominating sports organisations without going for elections to elect members since Uttarakhand came into being as a State.