Pune: The All India Tennis Association’s (AITA) electoral officer on Saturday rejected the objections of Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja, who challenged the legality of the electoral roll, claiming several members were in breach of the National Sports Governance Act (NSGA) and the national federation’s recently amended constitution.
Devvarman and Raja, who have also filed a contempt petition in the Delhi High Court against AITA interim president Chintan Parikh and secretary Sunder Iyer, claimed that 13 members on the draft electoral roll were in violation of the 70-year age cap, tenure restrictions regarding the cooling-off period and maximum three-term limit, and conflict-of-interest provisions. Rajeev Sharma, the electoral officer (EO), however, noted that the rules governing the three issues applied only to those contesting the polls and not to voters. Yet, the EO’s decision comes a day after the Delhi High Court, while hearing the players’ contempt petition, reiterated that the outcome of the AITA election would remain subject to its final order.
The Jharkhand association had appealed to bar Goa and Rajasthan from taking part in the elections, arguing that the decision to promote them from associate members to affiliate members with voting rights was taken at the AGM on Sep 30 without the matter being listed on the agenda, thereby raising concerns over the fairness of the election process. Sharma sought responses from the two units by Nov 12 and said he would decide on the appeal on Nov 14, the day filing of nomination for the election starts.
On our application for appointment of auditors on financial discrepancies, the court said, ‘after the election, if required we will extend the tenure of the administrator’,” a member of Mittal’s legal team said. In their petition, Devvarman and Raja cited Mittal’s latest report to the court, which alleged that the interim office-bearers had refused to share information regarding the finances of AITA and the AITA Trust, and had kept her out of the election process, including the appointment of the EO. “Court had issued notice in contempt. It will further pass order on the basis of statement of AITA.