NT Reporter
Margao
The District Registrar and Inspector General of Societies (South), Margao, has directed the Goa Chess Association (GCA) to initiate fresh elections within 60 days, clarifying that the Executive Committee’s tenure must be computed from the July 2021 electoral cycle and not from July 2023.
The order, passed on March 1, 2026, came in response to a complaint filed by former GCA secretary Kishor Bandekar against current secretary Ashesh Keni, questioning the validity of the committee’s continued tenure.
At the heart of the dispute was whether the Executive Committee, which assumed charge following elections conducted on July 9, 2023, was entitled to a fresh four-year term running until July 2027.
“The tenure of the present Executive Committee cannot be recomputed from July 2023. Tenure must therefore be aligned with the original electoral cycle of 2021.”
The order further noted that the 2023 re-election was “limited to certain posts and did not nullify the entire 2021 electoral cycle,” and that no provision in the Bye-laws permitted a fresh four-year term commencing from 2023.
Emphasising the principle of fixed-term governance, the Registrar observed that accepting the July 2023 date as a fresh starting point would defeat the object of prescribed tenure limits and allow extension by implication.
In the operative portion of the order, the Registrar directed, “It is declared that the tenure of the present Executive Committee shall be computed in accordance with the original electoral cycle i.e. July 2021 and not from July 2023.”
The Association has been instructed to initiate fresh elections within 60 days from the date of the order.
Until a newly elected body assumes charge, the existing Executive Committee will function strictly in a caretaker capacity. The order states: “No major financial or policy decisions shall be undertaken.”
However, the Registrar clarified that past decisions taken in good faith would not be invalidated.
