Pune: Claiming that the All India Tennis Association (AITA) has been a “victim” rather than a “culprit” vis-a-vis AITA Trust, interim president Chintan Parikh said the federation would be able to address the issue only after elections are held in September.The financial matters of AITA Trust has come under renewed focus after the Delhi High Court-appointed Administrator, Justice (Retd) Gita Mittal, called for its records following her appointment in late April.The details of the Trust, registered in 2000 by then AITA president, the late Raj Kumar Khanna, for the purpose of building the present stadium at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi, have remained a mystery despite some of the AITA office-bearers or executive committee members, past and present, being part of the Trust.“AITA today does not have any information to hide. AITA is the victim here, not the culprit,” Parikh told The Times of India.“Myself, the secretary general or the treasurer, none of us are trustees. My first job is to see that an impartial election happens after amending the constitution. Once that happens, then we will ensure that AITA gets whatever it is supposed to have by way of right. We are not going to leave it undone.”As per information on the Niti Aayog website, Anil Jain, Anil Dhupar and Rohit Rajpal, who were president, secretary and treasurer of AITA in the preceding regime, hold the corresponding positions in the AITA Trust. Dhupar and Rajpal are also vice-presidents in the interim committee.Parikh said that he had objected to the trio being made life-time trustees. “The right thing would have been for the Trust to pass a resolution saying that the office-bearers of AITA would be ex officio members (of the Trust),” he said.When contacted, Jain said such a resolution had indeed been passed by the Trust.“At present it is an interim committee. Once the elections are done, the new office-bearers will become members of the Trust,” he said, adding Rajpal has since resigned as a trustee.Anil Khanna, Bharat Oza, Raktim Saikia and Hironmoy Chatterjee were among the other trustees, Jain said.A major allegation regarding the AITA Trust has been diversion of funds to personal accounts, which was then used to buy land to set up the now defunct National Tennis Academy in Gurgaon.“I won’t comment on the past, but since I became a member (in 2023) not a penny, not only from the Trust but also from AITA (when he was president) has gone to any individual,” Jain said. “Recoveries have been made and the land in Gurgaon, a prime land of high value, has been transferred back to the Trust. Everything has been cleared now.“Not only that, I raised Rs. 17 crore for the Davis Cup tie (against Denmark in Delhi in 2022). All those who are talking now can’t bring one rupee.”Asked about the Administrator calling for the Trust’s financial records, Jain said, “We have written to the Administrator saying she has no power to ask the Trust details. The Trust is separate from AITA, it is not the subject matter of the High Court order.”The draft of the amended constitution, prepared by Justice Mittal after taking suggestions from of the interim committee and the state associations, is set to be taken up for discussion and subsequently ratified by members of AITA during its extraordinary general meeting in Delhi on Sunday.The elections are set for September.
