Kamal Ghorui
New Delhi: At a time when Indian table tennis is enjoying a surge on the international stage, the national federation is going through an administrative implosion. Barely a week after Indian paddlers won 10 medals, including four gold, at the 2026 WTT Star Youth Contender and Feeder events in Doha, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) on Thursday suspended its secretary general and former India international Kamlesh Mehta during an Annual General Meeting (AGM) convened by federation president Meghna Ahlawat, escalating a long-running power struggle within the sport’s governing body. Mehta, a two-time Olympian and one of the most prominent figures in Indian table tennis history, was removed from charge through a decision of the TTFI Executive Committee, which invoked Clause 11(d) of the federation’s Memorandum of Association, citing “serious irregularities” in the discharge of his official duties. In a mail accessed by TOI, the Executive Committee said it exercised its powers “in view of serious irregularities attributed to you in the discharge of your official duties.” The federation added that these irregularities, prima facie, involve matters of governance and administrative propriety and warrant a detailed and independent inquiry. As part of the decision, Maharashtra State Association secretary Yatin Tipnis was handed charge of the secretary general’s responsibilities during the AGM. Mehta, however, has strongly rejected the suspension, calling it “unfair and unconstitutional” and linking the action directly to the upcoming elections. “This (his suspension) is unfair and unconstitutional. There are federation elections slated later this year, and all this is being done to take complete control of TTFI. I will challenge this and take appropriate steps,” the eight-time national champion told TOI. The suspension is the latest flashpoint in a bitter internal feud between the president and secretary general, who have been locked in a power struggle since their election in Dec 2022 as part of what was then described as a compromise arrangement. The move comes less than a year before the federation elections, due to be held in December this year, and is widely seen within the table tennis community as a bid by rival factions to consolidate control of the organisation. Sources told TOI that the president’s faction is aiming to secure both the president’s and secretary general’s posts in the upcoming elections. According to one source, the suspension is likely intended to bar Mehta from contesting in December. Ahlawat is the wife of former Haryana deputy chief minister and Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant Chautala, who served as TTFI president from Jan 2017 to Dec 2022, a link that has drawn scrutiny within administrative circles. The chain of events leading to Mehta’s suspension began earlier this month when he convened an Emergency Special General Meeting (SGM) on Jan 17, attended by TTFI member units. According to the minutes of that meeting, the Senior National Championships were allotted to Indore and scheduled from March 15 to 21, along with the finalisation of age-group tournaments. However, even before the SGM was held, Ahlawat, in a letter dated Jan 15, declared the meeting called by Mehta to be “unconstitutional and invalid”, setting the stage for a direct confrontation over authority within the federation. The president’s faction has since cited alleged delays in the conduct of national championships, the convening of the AGM and the non-announcement of the domestic calendar as grounds for Mehta’s removal. The Executive Committee has also appointed a three-member inquiry panel comprising Chetan Gurung, Samar Jeet Singh and Sundara Varadhan to investigate the alleged irregularities and submit its report within a stipulated time frame. A show-cause notice will be issued separately, the federation said, granting Mehta an opportunity to respond. The MoA empowers the Executive Committee to declare a person persona non grata for a specified period, pending inquiry, if such a person is found likely to “endanger the harmony or affect the character, stability and interests of the federation”. The provision further states that if such a person is holding office, he shall ipso facto cease to hold that office upon a two-thirds majority decision. In a detailed reply circulated to members, Mehta also questioned the legality of the AGM convened by the president, citing the federation’s constitution. “Article 19(B)(a) of the TTFI Constitution categorically mentions that it is the Secretary General who has the power to convene all meetings. The Constitution does not grant the President the power to call a meeting,” Mehta wrote. “It is only in circumstances where the Secretary General does not respond to such requests that the President may take matters into his or her hands. Despite having asked on three occasions now, formally and with all stakeholders marked, the President, apart from making false claims of having constitutionally called for the meeting, has not supplied any evidence of having made a formal request to me to convene the AGM. Therefore, any claim of the AGM being called for in accordance with the TTFI Constitution is flawed.”
