On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court put a temporary hold on the release of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) election results. The court directed the election officer to submit the results in a sealed envelope, pending the outcome of a petition filed by tennis champions Somdev Kishore Devvarman and Purav Mukul Raja.

The bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav held, “Election shall remain subject to the outcome of the instant writ petition. Let the result of the Election be placed in a sealed cover by the Election Officer, meaning thereby, the result of the Election shall not be published”. 

Tennis champions, represented by Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra, argued that the All India Tennis Association (AITA) blatantly disregarded previous orders of the Delhi High Court. They alleged that AITA committed 18 clear violations of the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 (Sports Code). 

In response, they sought the appointment of a retired judge to serve as an administrator for the association.

The champions further contended that the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports had failed in its duty to enforce the Sports Code, which they argued is binding on AITA. They emphasized that the Ministry is responsible for ensuring its proper implementation in both letter and spirit.

In August 2022, the court observed that while AITA had amended its Constitution, it still failed to include proper provisions for athlete representation in its key decision-making bodies. Although two nominated members were added, this fell short of the Sports Code's requirement that such representatives be elected by their peers.

The court had directed AITA to include “a minimum of 25% of eminent sportspersons of outstanding merit in the Central Council / General Assembly. This violates paragraph 3.20 of Annexure II of the Sports Code…25% of eminent sportspersons of outstanding merit in the Executive Committee. This violates paragraph 9.3(xii) of the Sports Code”.

Consequently, the court issued notices to the Government and the All India Tennis Association (AITA), seeking their responses to the plea. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on October 14, 2024.

**Counsel Representation:**  
- For Petitioners: Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra, along with Advocates R.A. Iyer and Jhanvi Dubey  
- For Union: Standing Counsel Nidhi Raman, with Government Pleader Jitendra Kumar Tripathi  
- For AITA: Senior Advocate Bajava Prabhu Patil, with Advocate Ashish Prasad