India, Jan. 6 -- Former Union minister Suresh Kalmadi, whose role in sports administration defined his prominence and also led to his downfall, passed away early on Tuesday in Pune. He was 81.

Kalmadi withdrew from politics after facing allegations of corruption as the head of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee. His arrest in 2011 and subsequent removal from key posts effectively ended his public life.

In April 2025, a Delhi court accepted the Enforcement Directorate's closure report in an alleged money laundering case related to the CWG, effectively exonerating Kalmadi.

Kalmadi, who served as a squadron leader in the Indian Air Force and an instructor at the National Defence Academy, took voluntary retirement...