Questions over EFI’s role in facilitating duty exemption for pension-drawing Arjuna awardee

The conduct of the Equestrian Federation of India EFI has come under scrutiny after it facilitated customs duty exemption for Arjuna awardee Major General Deep Ahlawat to import a competition horse, despite his status as a pension-drawing former athlete who is no longer active in the sport.

The conduct of the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) has come under scrutiny after it facilitated customs duty exemption for Arjuna awardee Major General Deep Ahlawat to import a competition horse, despite his status as a pension-drawing former athlete who is no longer active in the sport. Under the Arjuna Award pension scheme, recipients are required to submit an undertaking affirming that they are not active competitors. Major General Ahlawat, a retired equestrian rider and Arjuna awardee, is currently availing the pension. Documents accessed by PTI show that on June 26, EFI wrote to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade seeking issuance of the necessary import licence with suitable duty concessions to facilitate the import of six horses from Germany, the U.K., France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Belgium and Hungary. The federation stated in the letter that the move would help in the growth of equestrian sport in India and improve standards to win medals at international events. On September 9, 2025, EFI again wrote to the Sports Ministry that Major General Ahlawat would import two horses for training and participation in various events and that a duty exemption was required for one. The federation requested the ministry to issue a Customs Duty Exemption Certificate (CDEC) so that the consignment could be released at the earliest. The horse imported is a warmblood named Lovely Miss Moneypenny. The sequence of communications has raised a larger question over EFI's decision-making process. Facilitation of a competition horse import with duty concessions appears at variance with the pension undertaking that requires an awardee to step away from active sport. While applying for pension, the applicant has to give an undertaking that he/she has ''retired from the active sports career''. Lt. Col. MM Rahman, who as EFI Joint Secretary recommended Ahlawat for import of horse, said they followed the EFI SOP while taking the decision. ''The import has been done in accordance with the provisions of the SOP issued by EFI on import of sporting horses,'' Rahman told PTI. However, the SOP does not mention if a retired athlete can be recommended for importing a sports horse and that too with duty exemption. When this was pointed out to Rahman, he replied,'' He can also import for his son (Major Yashdeep Ahlawat) who is an active rider.'' However, the SOP does not say that a retired athlete can import a horse for his family. Also, the duty exemption is given to eminent sports persons. In this case the horse was imported for Euro 7000 and a 52 percent of the total import amount should have been paid as duty. Major General Ahlawat was approached for a comment but he did not reply to the query. EFI Secretary General Col. Jaiveer Singh admitted that such an event has happened. ''Such brazen misuse of position by EC members was rampant in the last one year. There are more serious incidents yet to come to light,'' Jaiveer told PTI. The Delhi High Court had recently ordered fresh elections to the EFI and directed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to constitute an ad-hoc panel to run the affairs of the federation for three months. ''I welcome the honourable high court of Delhi's decision to appoint an Adhoc committee, which should have been done long time ago. I urge the Sports Ministry to please ensure that anyone with a conflict of interest is not appointed on the Adhoc committee particularly individuals owning clubs or whose kith and kin are active riders who aspire to represent India and coaches,'' said Jaiveer.

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