Tennis money meant for the game diverted to private hands, says AITA administrator

REPRESENTATIVE | The administrator has stated that efforts to secure the body’s financial records have been unsuccessful so far, and has produced a letter written on June 30 by Anil Dhupar, secretary of AITA Trust, where he claimed that the Trust was an independent body and the request was beyond the scope of the Court’s mandate. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Delhi High Court-appointed administrator to the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Justice (retd.) Gita Mittal, has requested the Court to implead the AITA Trust and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) in the ongoing proceedings to amend the AITA’s Constitution in line with the National Sports Governance Act and hold fresh elections.

In her report dated September 14, filed after the Extraordinary General Meeting ratified AITA’s new Constitution on July 26, Justice Mittal termed this as a necessary step under her Court-mandated “obligation to supervise the financial affairs of AITA” and because the AITA had “assigned and abdicated all its functions, properties and income to the AITA Trust”.

The administrator has stated that efforts to secure financial records have been unsuccessful so far, and has produced a letter written on June 30 by Anil Dhupar, secretary of AITA Trust, where he claimed that the Trust was an independent body and the request was beyond the scope of the Court’s mandate.

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On July 25, Sportstar had highlighted the shifting of responsibilities from an elected, non-profit body like AITA to AITA Trust, the many conflicts of interests where the same officials occupied different positions across the AITA, AITA Trust and DLTA, and the wrangling between the AITA Trust and DLTA over rental income worth nearly ₹40 crore from office spaces at the R.K. Khanna Stadium in Delhi.

Justice Mittal has stated that the rent dispute prima facie indicated “misappropriation of land and defalcation of funds, which were intended only for the interest of the game and have been surreptitiously diverted to private persons utilising the shield of a legal entity in the nature of a Trust”.

The DLTA has been led for nearly a decade by Rohit Rajpal, India’s current Davis Cup captain and a vice-president at the AITA. He was the treasurer of the AITA Trust during the rent dispute, before resigning on June 13, 2026. Rajpal has since announced his candidature for AITA presidency, where tennis legend Leander Paes is expected to be a contender.

Fresh elections under the new Constitution were to be held by September 30, but the interim AITA committee has requested an extension. The High Court is scheduled to hear the matter again on September 25.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) generally disapproves of ad-hoc bodies being in charge for extended periods. Emails from Sportstar requesting comment have received no response from the ITF.