The Executive Committee of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Friday removed Anil Dhupar as the Secretary General of the federation, stating that his position had become untenable after reaching the age of 70 and completing his four-year term.
With 17 out of 25 members in attendance, the EC passed a resolution by a three-fourths majority to appoint Joint Secretary Sunder Iyer as the interim secretary, authorising him to respond to the writ petition filed in the Delhi High Court by Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja, who challenged the validity of the elections conducted in September 2024.
Dhupar, 72, was elected for a four-year term in 2020. Although he did not file his nomination for any office bearer鈥檚 post in last year鈥檚 elections, he continued in his position as the court had not declared the election results.
鈥淲e passed a resolution today and removed Mr Dhupar as Secretary General. We have appointed Sunder Iyer as interim secretary. He will also look into players鈥 petition, till the results are declared,鈥 AITA Vice President (Sports) Hironmoy Chatterjee told PTI.
鈥淭he Executive Committee is supreme, but the President and Secretary General are making decisions without consulting the EC, which is the highest body. Mr Dhupar has already crossed the age of 70, and he can鈥檛 continue as per the Sports Code, which bars continuation of office bearers beyond 70.
鈥淭he appointment of lawyers in matters concerning AITA is a decision that needs to be taken by the EC. The President did not consult anyone before filing the reply. The Federation can鈥檛 run on someone鈥檚 whims and fancies; it鈥檚 a democratic institution.鈥
When reminded that the AITA Constitution allows an office bearer to complete their term if they are elected before the age of 70, Chatterjee responded, 鈥淭hey made that change to continue in their positions. We have to follow the Sports Code. And he has completed his term of four years, so why is he continuing?鈥
Reacting to the development, Dhupar told PTI that he remains the Secretary General of the Federation since the matter related to new elections is still sub-judice.
鈥淚 am waiting for a court order; the matter is sub judice. No one can appoint a new secretary unless there is a vacancy. I may file contempt after taking legal advice, as I have not resigned. This is against the High Court order, which had advised maintaining the status quo. I am still the Secretary of the AITA,鈥 said Dhupar.
Chatterjee said they would submit the minutes of the meeting to the Sports Ministry and the Delhi High Court, which will hear the matter on July 11.
鈥淲e have recorded this meeting, and we will share it with the ministry. We are Code compliant, and that is why the government has recognised us as an NSF. Until the new Code comes into effect, we have to follow the existing one, and we will abide by the new one as well.
鈥淭here is no direction from the Court that the EC can鈥檛 meet or take decisions,鈥 he said.
Seven EC members attended the meeting held in Ahmedabad virtually.
Those present physically were Hironmoy Chatterjee, Chintan Parikh, Sunder Iyer, Suman Kapur, Raktim Saikia, Prem Karra, Rushmi Chakravarti, Ankush Dutta, Thomas Paul, and Capt. Murti Gupta.
Sunder Raju, Rajan Kashyap, Rohit Rajpal, Bharat Oza, Asit Tripathi, G S Hora, and Sujit Roy attended the meeting virtually.
With PTI Inputs.