Former Indian women’s hockey captain Asunta Lakra has questioned procedural lapses in the Ethics Committee inquiry started by Hockey India. In her preliminary reply, a copy of which is with The Tribune, Asunta also called the allegations leveled against her as malicious, motivated and defamatory in nature.The chairman of HI’s ethics committee, Justice (retd) Raghvendra Kumar had issued a show-cause notice to Asunta on a complaint filed by hockey player Albela Rani Toppo. Toppo in her complaint alleged that Asunta had threatened to end her career with the Railways and said she would never be selected for the senior national team camp.“…The allegations are false, baseless, malicious, motivated, defamatory and are a complete distortion of facts. Nothing contained in the said complaints is admitted save what is expressly admitted herein, and no part of the present communication shall be construed as an admission of any fact, allegation or of the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee,” Asunta wrote in her reply.Asunta, who is also an executive committee member of Hockey India, called out the committee for failing to follow the by-laws of India. “Ethics committee is not a body of original or suo—moto jurisdiction. IT is the body of referred jurisdiction. A complaint referable to the Ethics Committee must first be placed before, examined by, and referred in writing by the president, Hockey India, who alone performs the gatekeeping function. Until such a written reference is made by the president, the Ethics Committee is not, and cannot be, seized of the complaint, and no inquiry – fact-finding or otherwise – can be commenced against any person,” she said.Asunta further questioned how secretary general Bhola Nath Singh can initiate an enquiry against her as he himself is the subject of complaints made by her. Last month, Asunta had accused Singh of threatening her with consequences for raising the issue of sexual harassment of girls in Jharkhand at the hands of a coach, Sudhir Golla.The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been asked by the sports ministry to form an independent committee to probe allegations made by Asunta.“It is further submitted, with respect and without making any personal imputation, that if the letter dated 10.07.2026 has been issued by or at the instance of the secretary general, Hockey India, then the reference is additionally vitiated. The secretary general is presently subject of complaints and proceedings pending before various fora, and the complaints against me are, as will be demonstrated in my reply on merits, a counterblast thereto. A person interested in the outcome cannot be the referring authority, and a reference so made offends the rule that no one may be judge, or a gatekeeper, in his own cause,” she added.She also referred to the complaint filed against her by Toppo as beyond ethics committee and HI purview.“On a plain reading, the grievances set out in the complaints relate substantially to the complaint’s employment with the South Eastern Railway, to her position in the Hockey Jharkhand team, and to events said to have occurred during All India Indian Railways Women’s Hockey Championships, 2026 at Kapurthala, Punjab, which is a competition organised under the aegis of the Railways Sports Promotion Board and not under the aegis of Hockey India,” she quipped.“The reliefs sought by the complainant – including protection of her employment and her personal security – are the reliefs which the ethics committee of Hockey India is not competent to grant. To that extent the complaints are misconceived and outside the domain of the ethics committee,” she added.