New Delhi, May 16 (IANS): The Supreme Court has listed the case related to the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) pending elections for hearing on May 18.

On Thursday (May 12), the apex court agreed to hear a plea of Delhi Football Club, alleging the illegal continuation of a committee and Praful Patel as president of AIFF.

Patel has already completed his three terms and 12 years as AIFF president in December 2020, the maximum permitted to a national sports federation chief under the Sports Code. The AIFF, however, did not hold the elections, citing a pending petition in the Supreme Court regarding its constitution.

The AIFF moved an application in the Supreme Court only a month before its elections were due, seeking certain clarifications on the status of its constitution, which was under scrutiny in the apex court since 2017.

During the hearing on Thursday, lawyer Prashant Bhushan told the bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana that an illegal committee is continuing to head the AIFF due to the non-hearing of a petition of the football body against the 2017 decision of the Delhi High Court.

After that, the Apex court has listed the matter for hearing on May 18.

Earlier, the sports ministry had informed the Supreme Court that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Patel has no mandate to run the sports body, as he has served his three terms as president and the national body should hold elections without further delay.

The sports ministry had filed an affidavit before the apex court on April 8 about the Special Leave Petition (SLP) in which lawyer Rahul Mehra is one of the respondents along with the Union of India.