On Monday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna recused himself from hearing two significant pleas regarding the finalisation of the constitutions for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF). These constitutions were drafted by former Supreme Court judge Justice L. Nageswara Rao. CJI Khanna informed the bench, which included Justice Sanjay Kumar, that he would not participate in the proceedings because of his prior involvement with the case in the Delhi High Court. As a result, the pleas will now be taken up by a new bench led by Justice PS Narasimha on February 10, 2024.

The two cases were last addressed by the Supreme Court on March 19, 2024, under the leadership of former CJI DY Chandrachud. At that time, the court allowed the AIFF to file objections to the draft constitution proposed by Justice Rao. The amicus curiae, Gopal Sankarnarayanan, was tasked with updating the chart reflecting these objections.

Regarding the IOA, the Supreme Court had extended the timeline for filing objections to its draft constitution, which was adopted at a special meeting in Delhi. Despite the adoption of the constitution under the Supreme Court and International Olympic Committee (IOC) supervision, several IOA members claimed they were forced to accept it due to the court's mandate.

The court had urged Justice Rao to prepare a comprehensive report on the AIFF's constitution after considering objections from stakeholders like FIFA. The pleas concerning both the IOA and AIFF constitutions are being heard together, as they both involve the finalisation of key sports governance documents in India.