Former Cricket World Cup director and current president of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association, Suraj Dandeniya, was on Thursday summoned by the parliamentary select committee COPE (Committee on Public Enterprise) to answer questions related to accounts at his current organization.
COPE is empowered to ensure financial discipline and accountability at public institutions.
Dandeniya was elected president of the badminton body last month at an election where rival contestants staged a protest and walked out citing election malpractices.
But COPE, Ceylon Today learns, was displeased with the submissions by Dandeniya, his secretary and the former treasurer of the Badminton Association and ordered to be present at a second meeting in two weeks time with documents in place with a warning that they should be vigilant and accountable at all times when dealing with financial matters.
Financial mismanagement and alleged racketeering became a hot topic in badminton administration in the recent past and no inquiry was held until COPE summoned its office bearers.
Meanwhile, the clubs that walked out of the election meeting last month are now challenging the election of office bearers on the grounds that the whole process did not have a quorum to continue with the meeting and election.
A former vice president of the Badminton Association Mohan Wijesinghe told Ceylon Today that they walked out as two affiliate member associations did not have legal representation at the meeting.
According to the badminton Constitution if fifty percent of the clubs are absent the quorum is deemed insufficient to conduct a meeting.
The members who walked out made a complaint immediately to the Director General of the Sports Ministry who said that all powers were in the hands of the Minister.
The clubs had also made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission.
