Trouble for AITA: State associations to move no-confidence motion against Anil Jain

New Delhi: Things aren’t well for the All India Tennis Association (AITA) after eight state tennis associations proposed to move a no confidence motion against current president Anil Jain just a day before the national federation is scheduled to hold elections.

An Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) has been called in New Delhi when the AITA is supposed to hold a Annual General Meeting AGM to conduct the elections on the same day.

According to a report by news agency PTI, Jain, who is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP, is facing the charges of “loading the association with his personal ‘entitled’ expenses by travelling with his family abroad several times.”

Assam, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Tripura are the seven state tennis association units to propose the no-confidence motion. If the no confidence motion is passed then Anil Jain will cease the AITA president post. This has never happened in the history of Indian tennis where a sitting president is removed.

When contacted by news agency PTI, Jain said the state units have opened the front against him because he advised them to follow Sports Code during the upcoming elections.

“This EGM is illegal. A three-week notice is required to call any meeting. This meeting is null and void. I will take legal action. Clause 15 of AITA constitution explains the process to call meetings. You can’t send a notice on 23rd of a month and call a meeting on the 28th,” Anil Jain was quoted as saying by PTI.

“Is this their way to penalise me for saying that they must follow Sports Code? All of them will be disqualified because this Electoral College is wrong. If I have done anything wrong, I will go,” he added.

State association members accuse Anil Jain for personal gains through AITA

An official member from one of the state association units refuted Jain’s claims and said it was nothing to do with Sports Code.

“Who says we are not following Sports Code? We are Code-compliant. We will never go against the law of the land. This is not about Sports Code. If this was the issue, why he did not say anything when the EC meeting was held last month and AGM and elections were announced,” the official said.

“This is the time to clean the system, this is the time to support the players and change the face of Indian tennis. We are united in this. We have a capable team to do it. You will see Indian tennis changing after these elections,” he added.

Another official member of state associations accused Jain of using his position in AITA for personal gains.

“Setting aside all the principles of good governance, he has used the AITA Trust for his personal hidden agenda by becoming a permanent trustee in his individual capacity instead of being in ex-officio capacity,” a state association wrote to AITA on September 21.

“All the members of AITA, have so far remained silent with a view to maintain dignity and cohesiveness within the fraternity of AITA.”

These allegations against Anil Jain comes after former Indian tennis players Somdev Devvarman and Purav Raja filed a petition in Delhi High Court this week, asking for a stay on the AITA elections, citing the violations of the National Sports Code, 2011.

Although the Delhi HC refused to grant stay on the elections, the results shouldn’t be publicised and submitted to the respected court in a sealed envelope.