The High Court of Delhi on Monday set aside the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) order of January 28 last suspending Kamlesh Mehta as its Secretary-General and declaring him persona non grata. The Court also appointed Justice (retd.) Krishna Murari as Enquiry Authority to inquire into the conduct and functioning of TTFI and its office-bearers.
Delivering a judgment Justice Purshaindra Kumar Kaurav found the TTFI order unsustainable as there was a complete absence of the principles of natural justice. The order does not even comply and adhere to the most basic, rudimentary and elemental principles of the natural justice, the same deserved to be set aside, he wrote in the judgement.
Kamlesh Mehta’s Senior Counsel Abhishek Malhotra argued that the petition was maintainable despite the arbitration clause in TTFI’s Memorandum of Association, the order and that the clause in the TTFI Memorandum of Association which allows a person to be suspended without adherence to the principles of natural justice were illegal.
Rahul Mehra, Senior Counsel for TTFI, argued that the petition was not maintainable since the TTFI Memorandum of Association offered Kamlesh Mehta an alternate remedy in the form arbitration, that the TTFI order was justified owing to the emergent circumstances and that the TTFI Memorandum of Association allowed the bypassing of the principles of natural justice.
The Court held that there would have been no extraordinary or irreversible effects/consequences which would have befallen upon TTFI had Kamlesh Mehta been granted an opportunity of hearing or a bare minimum compliance with the principles of natural justice had been made before passing the order of January 28.
“… the circumstances which were presented before the President and the Executive Committee were not such as would justify escaping the rigors of principles of natural justice. Granting a notice to the petitioner and a consequent hearing would not frustrate or defeat the very purpose of the action sought to be contemplated against the petitioner,” the Judgment noted.
Justice Kaurav also held that the Court could shut its eyes to allegations made by two highest office-bearers (President Ms. Meghna Ahlawat and Secretary-General Kamlesh Mehta) against one other, and having two factions fighting for control, power, and influence, with the sport, sportspersons, and the nation taking the backseat.
“While the Impugned Order has been set aside owing to non-compliance with the principles of natural justice, the seriousness of the allegations against the petitioner, as also those made against the President cannot be ignored,” the Judgment said. Hence the Court appointed Justice (retd) Krishna Murari, former Judge of the Supreme Court, as Enquiry Authority.
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