Delhi High Court Sets Aside TTFI Order Suspending Olympian Kamlesh Mehta From Post Of Secretary General Without Hearing

The Delhi High Court has set aside an order of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) suspending its Secretary General Kamlesh Mehta — described by the Court as an “illustrious veteran” of Indian table tennis.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav held that the Federation violated basic principles of natural justice by acting without giving him any opportunity of hearing and thus appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Krishna Murari as an independent enquiry authority to examine the functioning of the TTFI and the conduct of its office bearers.

Mehta, a former Olympian who represented India at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics and won multiple Commonwealth Championship medals, had challenged the January 28, 2026 decision of TTFI's Executive Committee declaring him “persona non grata” and suspending him from the post of Secretary General pending an internal inquiry.

The dispute arose amid an internal conflict within the federation between Mehta and TTFI President Meghna Ahlawat over the convening of meetings, functioning of the federation, financial decisions and alleged procedural irregularities.

According to the Court, the Executive Committee passed the impugned resolution without issuing any notice to Mehta or giving him an opportunity to defend himself.

The Court held that principles of natural justice had to be read into Clause 11(d) of the TTFI Memorandum of Association, under which a person could be declared “persona non grata” and removed from office.

“It is a case concerning the complete absence of principles of natural justice, and the complete lack of an opportunity of hearing…it is not non-compliance with a particular facet of the principles of natural justice, that TTFI and Mr. Mehra have to justify, rather, it is the complete go-by with the said principles, that needs to be vindicated.,” the Court observed.

It further emphasised that suspension of a democratically elected office bearer defeats the right to represent the constituents who voted for him and simultaneously, a shadow is cast on the constituents' right to be represented.

“In such a scenario, it would be untenable for this Court to hold that principles of natural justice can be given a complete go by and a person can be, unilaterally, put under suspension,” the Court said.

It noted that the allegations exchanged between the federation's President and Secretary General raised concerns about whether the federation was functioning in the best interests of the sport, athletes and the country.

It observed that it is in the interest of sports in general to prevent the development of cliques and cabals in sports federations and bodies.

“Larger common good in the world of sport can be achieved by ensuring that the NSFs (National Sports Federations) follow the procedure prescribed by statutes, regulations and the declarations by Courts,” the Court said.

As such, stating that it could not “shut its eyes” to the allegations being made by the federation's highest office bearers against each other, the Court quashed the suspension order but directed that any future action against office bearers, including Mehta, would be subject to the inquiry to be conducted by Justice Krishna Murari.

Appearance: Mr. Abhishek Malhotra, Sr. Adv., Mr. Abhishek Bharti, Ms. Aahna Mehrotra, Mr. Kartikay Dutta, Mr. Shivansh Soni, Ms. Anukriti, Advocates for Petitioner; Mr. Rahul Mehra, Senior Advocate with Mr. Parth Goswami, Chaitnya Gossain, Ranjeet Pawar, Mr. Hanif Chimthanawala, Advocates for R-1. Mr. Avi Singh, Sr. Advocate along with Mr. Parth Goswami and Mr. Ayush Yadav, Advocates for R-2. Mr. Udit Dedhiya, SPC, Mr. Akshit Mohan, GP, Ms. Apurva Sachdev, Mr. Preyansh Gupta, Advocates for R-3. Ms. Aashita Khanna and Ms. Aanya Agarwal, Advocates for R-4.

Case title: Kamlesh Mehta v. TTFI

Case no.: W.P.(C) 1680/2026

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