In a recent development, the Supreme Court has intervened in the ongoing legal battle surrounding the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court overturned the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, allowing the WFI to proceed with the executive committee elections.

The panel, comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, expressed their opinion that the High Court should have permitted the elections to take place while the case was pending. The Supreme Court noted confusion over the High Court's decision to nullify the entire election process and emphasized that a more appropriate approach would have been to allow the elections to proceed, contingent on the resolution of the ongoing writ petition.

This marks the third instance in which a petition related to the halting of WFI polls has reached the Supreme Court. In October, the Supreme Court acknowledged a plea from the ad-hoc committee responsible for the daily operations of the WFI, challenging the High Court's stay on the elections. The court granted permission for the polls to proceed, with the condition that the results would be subject to the outcome of the petition before the High Court. The Returning Officer was directed to issue a revised election program.

It's worth noting that earlier, the Supreme Court had declined to lift the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the WFI elections, which were originally scheduled for August 12. Opposition from several State wrestling bodies led them to approach various High Courts, expressing concerns about their voting eligibility.

In a related context, the Supreme Court had previously intervened in July, lifting a stay imposed by the Gauhati High Court on the elections for the WFI's executive committee.