Delhi High Court directs AITA and petitioners to file replies over impleading request
The Delhi High Court has asked the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and the original petitioners led by former player Somdev Devvarman to file replies to Court-appointed administrator Justice (retd.) Gita Mittal’s request to implead the AITA Trust and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) in the ongoing proceedings to amend the AITA’s Constitution, the order from a September 25 hearing released recently said.
Justice Mittal, who is serving as the Court-appointed administrator, submitted a report dated September 14 alleging large-scale financial misconduct and accusing office-bearers of stonewalling requests for documents and information. The court’s recent order requires responses to that report as part of the petition to alter the AITA Constitution. The hearing record and order were published on October 13, 2026, from Vijayawada.
The court has specifically asked AITA to respond to a request to produce the complete minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting held on July 26, which ratified the new Constitution in line with the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. That production of minutes is part of the material the administrator sought to have the AITA Trust and the DLTA impleaded into the case. The order frames those documentary requests as central to the court’s assessment of the proposed constitutional amendments.
The schedule set by the court requires any rejoinders to AITA’s replies, if filed, to be submitted by November 6, the date when the matter will be heard again. The November 6 hearing is the next procedural milestone identified in the order. Parties were directed to meet that timetable so the court can address the impleading application and the documentary issues raised by the administrator.
Separately, the timeline for holding fresh AITA elections has been extended to November 27 from the earlier deadline of September 30. AITA had sought the extension to complete various mandatory administrative processes in the run-up to the elections, chief among them the finalisation of the 40-member Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM) roster.
The court will reconvene the matter on November 6 to consider the replies and rejoinders, and the association must complete election-related administrative steps under the extended schedule that now runs until November 27.