AITA EC removes Dhupar; Sunder Iyer made interim Secretary General

New Delhi: The Executive Committee of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Friday removed Anil Dhupar as the Secretary General of the federation, saying his position has become untenable after attaining the age of 70 and that he has already completed his four-year term.

Attended by 17 of the 25 members, the EC passed a resolution by 3/4th majority to make joint secretary Sunder Iyer as interim secretary, empowering him to file a reply 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. While he did not file his nomination for any office bearer''s post in last year''s polls, he was continuing in his position since the court did not declare the results of the elections.

"We 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'') petition, till the results are declared," AITA Vice President (Sports) Hironmoy Chatterjee told PTI.

"The Executive Committee is supreme but the President and Secretary General are taking decisions without consulting the EC, which is the highest body. Mr. Dhupar has already crossed the age of 70 and he can''t continue as per the Sports Code which bars continuation of office bearers beyond 70.

"The appointment of the 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''t run on someone''s whims and fancies, it''s a democratic institution." When reminded that the AITA Constitution allows an office bearer to complete their term, if they are elected before the age of 70, Chatterjee said, "They 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?" 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.

"I am waiting for a court order, the matter is sub-judice. No one can make 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 status quo. I am still the Secretary of the AITA," said Dhupar.

Chatterjee said they will submit the minutes of the meeting to the Sports Ministry as well to the Delhi High Court, which will hear the matter on July 11. "We have recorded this meeting, we will share it with the ministry. We are Code compliant and that is why the government has recognised it as an NSF. Till the new Code comes into effect, we have to follow the existing one and we will abide by the new one as well.

"There is no direction from the Court that EC can''t meet or take decisions," 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 meet virtually.

"Mr. Hironmoy Chatterjee, Senior Vice President, issued the notice for this meeting to discuss urgent and pressing matters pertaining to the affairs of the AITA after the President/Secretary General did not call this meeting within the stipulated 30 days’ time period as mandated in the AITA Rules & Regulations," AITA said in a statement.

"This is the first time a requisition meeting is being held by the people who have requisitioned it due to intentional inaction of the President and Secretary. All the resolutions were unanimously passed by majority of three-fourth of the total strength of the EC," it added further.

A five-member committee was also formed to guide the Interim Secretary on the legal affairs of AITA.

The meeting also discussed the forthcoming international tournament bids to be made by AITA for hosting tournaments.