New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Wednesday announced that its fresh elections will be held on November 27, setting the stage for the end of the interim administrative arrangement following a prolonged legal battle over the federation’s governance.
Rajeev Sharma, former State Election Commissioner of Haryana, was appointed Election Commissioner for the AITA elections under the National Sports Election Panel constituted pursuant to the National Sports Governance Act.
Sharma is among the senior electoral officials notified by the Centre as members of the National Sports Election Panel, which has been constituted to oversee elections of national sports bodies.
“The administrator’s mandate was up to September 30, unless extended. So, technically today is the last day of her tenure. The court has not directed for any extension. We held our AGM in Ahmedabad today and appointed the election commissioner,” AITA interim President Chintan Parikh told PTI.
“Today the EC also appointed a task force to look into AITA Trust issues. EC is very clear that AITA trust is not independent, and it has to come into AITA umbrella. It was cleared unanimously,” he added.
Chintan Parikh himself, Hironmoy Chatterjee, Prem Karra and Asit Tripathy will be the members of the task force.
The AITA also appointed two para players Mariappan Dorai (Tamil Nadu) and KP Shilpa (Karnataka) to its GBM with voting rights.
As per the election schedule, the process for the AITA Executive Committee and Athletes Committee will begin with publication of the final electoral colleges on November 7, followed by filing of nominations from November 14 to 16.
The draft list of nominations will be announced on November 16, objections can be filed from November 17, and scrutiny and disposal of objections will take place on November 21 and 22.
The final list of nominated candidates will be published on November 23, with November 24 set as the withdrawal deadline and the final list of contesting candidates to be issued on November 25.
AITA also formed a dispute resolution committee.
The fresh poll is the culmination of a complicated sequence of litigation, court orders and constitutional changes that began around the AITA elections held in September 2024.
The AITA elections were conducted on September 28, 2024, but the Delhi High Court had, four days earlier, directed that the results be kept in a sealed cover while it considered a challenge from two former players to the electoral process.
The existing Executive Committee consequently continued to run the association as the results remained undisclosed.
The matter acquired a new dimension after the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 and the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026 came into force.
The Delhi High Court, in its April 27, 2026 judgment, directed that the sealed results of the 2024 election be opened and allowed the elected Executive Committee to function as an ‘interim body’ for the day-to-day administration of AITA until fresh elections were held under an amended Constitution.
The court also appointed Justice (Retd.) Gita Mittal, former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, as Administrator.
Her mandate included overseeing the day-to-day functioning of AITA, supervising amendments to its Constitution and bye-laws in line with the new sports governance legislation, preparing the electoral college and conducting fresh elections.
The arrangement, however, was challenged by both sides.
AITA questioned the appointment and powers of the Administrator, while former players Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja challenged the recognition of the 2024 elected body as an interim committee.
The appeals came before a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court and on June 18, the Division Bench, without deciding the rival appeals on merits, recorded an agreement between the parties for a fresh election after bringing the AITA Constitution and bye-laws into conformity with the new sports governance framework.
The interim Executive Committee was asked to give its suggestions on the Administrator’s draft amendments, following which the Administrator was to finalise the draft and place it before the General Body.
The court also directed that an Extraordinary General Meeting be held to consider the proposed amendments clause by clause.
AITA subsequently amended its Constitution on July 26. PTI APS BS
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