Suresh Kalmadi (born 1 May 1944) is an Indian politician who spent 10 months in jail from April 2011 to January 2012 on corruption charges related to his time in charge of the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

in Delhi. He was accused of awarding a contract to install the timing, scoring and results system for the event to Swiss Timing at vastly inflated rates. The official, also president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) from 1996 to 2012, was charged with conspiracy, forgery and misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act but has so far never faced trial. He was formerly a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

. He was a member of parliament from

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

until May 2014. He is alleged to have been involved in corrupt practices in relation to the

during his tenure as president of

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams ...

and chairman of Commonwealth Games 2010. He was charged with conspiracy, forgery, misconduct and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and later arrested for the same in April 2014, but as has yet not faced trial. In December 2016, the

(IOA) named Suresh Kalmadi as its lifetime patron. However, he refused to accept the post until he was able to clear his name.

Early life

Kalmadi was born to Mangalore-based Dr. K. Shamrao Kalmadi and Shanta Rao Kalmadi. He speaks Konkani, Kannada, Marathi, English, Hindi and Tulu language. He was educated at

St. Vincent's High School St. Vincent's High School is a private Catholic primary and secondary school and pre-university college for boys located in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India. The English-medium convent school was founded by the Jesuits in 1867, located a ...

and

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

, Pune. Kalmadi joined the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

in 1960 and was commissioned as a pilot in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct ...

, serving between 1964 and 1972. He then became an instructor with the Air Force Training Team of the NDA from 1972 to 1974 before retiring from the IAF as a squadron leader. He is married to Meera Kalmadi. The couple have two daughters and one son.

Political career

In 1977, Kalmadi became the president of the Indian Youth Congress, Pune, and the next year took over President-ship of the Youth Congress, Maharashtra, a post he held from 1978 to 1980. In 1980, as the president of the Maharashtra Athletics Association, Kalmadi undertook the selection trials for the Marathon team to represent the country at the Moscow Olympics. This soon led to the establishment of the Pune International Marathon. Kalmadi served as president of the Indian Youth Congress (Socialist) 19811986. He was a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

for three terms from 1982 to 1996, and again in 1998. Kalmadi took over as the Chairman of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and in 1989 started the Pune Festival. He was also elected to the

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls ...

in 1996, and to the

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Nation ...

in 2004. During the tenure of

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

as the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

, Suresh Kalmadi served as the Minister of State for Railways from 1995 to 1996. That year he presented the Railway Budget. Kalmadi served as the president of the

from 1996 to 2012. He also served as the president of

Asian Athletics Association The Asian Athletics Association is the continental governing body for the sport of athletics in Asia. It is headquartered in Singapore. It organises the Asian Championships in Athletics and other continental competitions. The current president Qa ...

from 2000 to 2013 and was named its ''Life President'' in 2015. Vishwa Konkani Sammelan

Controversies

Corruption related to Formula One 2011

Kalmadi, as the

, signed an agreement to bring the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grand Prix to India in 2007. Later that year, the UK-based organizers Formula One Administration Limited signed a contract in this regard with India-based JPSK Sports Private Limited. Records obtained by ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' showed that Pune-based Sulba Realty Private Limited was a 13% shareholder in JPSK, along with

Jaypee Group Jaiprakash Associates Limited, commonly known as Jaypee Group, is an Indian conglomerate company based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It has business interests in engineering, construction, power, cement, real estate, hospitality, IT, spor ...

(74%). Kalmadi's son Sumeer was a director in Sulba Realty at the time, which would have implied a conflict of interest. While the JP in JPSK stood for Jaypee Group, it was alleged that the SK was a reference to Suresh/Sumeer Kalmadi. Records from the

Registrar of Companies, India The Registrar of Companies (ROC) is an office under the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs that deals with administration of the Companies Act, 2013, The Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, The Company Secretaries Act, 1980 and The Charte ...

showed that a year after the company was floated, Kalmadi's daughter, Payal Aditya Bhartia, and his son-in-law, Aditya Bhartia, joined JPSK as independent directors.

Commonwealth Games 2010

Kalmadi's conduct around the

came under scrutiny, with the

Central Vigilance Commission Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, f ...

(India's anti-corruption organisation) asking the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and government ...

to probe certain aspects of the games' organisation. For this, the opposition demanded Kalmadi's resignation. On 25 April 2011, CBI arrested former CWG Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi in the Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) case. He was arrested under Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. On 20 May 2011, CBI filed the first chargesheet in a special CBI court against Kalmadi. The CBI alleged that he was the main accused in awarding TSR system contract to a Swiss firm. The charge sheet said, "Kalmadi is the main accused as he was the person with all supreme powers. He had the supreme over-riding powers in the Organising Committee of the CWG, 2010." In addition to Kalmadi, the CBI named two companies and eight persons including OC former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and former Director General VK Verma as accused. Kalmadi's membership of the Indian National Congress Party was suspended after being arrested and charged with corruption. On 26 April 2011 he was sacked from the post of president of the

. On 1 July 2013 he lost the election for the post of president of the Asian Athletics Association, a post which he had held for 13 consecutive years, losing to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad. Suresh Kalmadi was in jail for 10 months and the court asked him to pay a surety amount of . Kalmadi was allowed by a Delhi court on 13 July 2012 to go to London for 2012 Olympics. He was, however, restrained on 25 July 2012 by the Delhi High court from participating in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, saying his participation can cause "embarrassment" to the nation. He claimed to be suffering from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

during course of investigation while in Tihar jail. Medical tests were not conclusive to be able to prove his claim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalmadi, Suresh Indian Air Force officers 1944 births Living people Railway Ministers of India Politicians from Pune India MPs 2009–2014 Indian sports executives and administrators Indian National Congress politicians 2010 Commonwealth Games India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 2004–2009 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Inmates of Tihar Jail Indian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of India Marathi politicians Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra People charged with corruption