Panaji: The All India Football Federation’s ethics and dispute resolution committee has been left with just two members, prompting a pause into the Churchill Brothers versus Inter Kashi hearings on account of alleged conflict of interest.Following an appeal by Churchill Brothers, Delhi High Court had observed that committee chairperson RK Pachnanda should not preside over the matter on account of his earlier role of investigator as AIFF’s integrity officer.He later recused himself, and while three members remained, Sudarshan Kumar Agarwal has now resigned from the panel after Churchill general manager Aditya Barros pointed at his previous role as counsel for AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey and flagged a direct conflict of interest, as defined under Article 83.2.1 of the AIFF Disciplinary Code, 2024, and provisions of the AIFF Code of Ethics, 2017.The club said Agarwal had previously acted as the “personal lawyer of Chaubey and even “issued a legal notice for defamation on behalf of the AIFF president.”“Before I could decide the application on merits, Sudarshan Kumar Agarwal has resigned vide email dated March 22, as a member from the AIFF ethics and dispute resolution committee,” deputy chairperson Ashok Tripathi said in his order on Thursday. “In view of the above, application filed by Churchill Brothers has become infructuous and it is disposed accordingly.”The deputy chairman has now directed AIFF secretary to take steps to fill the vacancy arising due to Agarwal’s resignation since, “for the purpose of quorum, the presence of three members is mandatory under the regulations. Pachnanda, chairman of the committee, has already sought recusal in this case and Agarwal has now resigned.”Churchill wanted an independent chairperson to ensure “impartial adjudication” of their grievances.“The fundamental principles of natural justice require that a person who has previously been involved in the investigation or preliminary examination of a matter ought not to subsequently sit in adjudication over the same dispute,” the club wrote in its appeal.Churchill are locked in an acrimonious battle with Inter Kashi over last season’s I-League title. The Goan club has called for suspension/revocation of the Varanasi-based club’s entry in the I-League under the AIFF’s Request for Proposal (RFP).The complaint states that although Inter Kashi got entry in the I-League under the Tier-II city category by declaring its home ground in Varanasi, it played all its matches in 2023-24 and 2024-25 (except one), at Kalyani Stadium, a tier-1 city, and in “breach of its terms and commitments under the RFP.”The former I-League champions have initiated contempt of court proceedings against AIFF for “wilful and deliberate non-compliance” to follow court’s directives dated Jan 8, where the federation was directed to take Churchill’s complaints to their logical conclusion through a “speaking order” within four weeks after conclusion of hearings.
