Senior civil servant Praveen Mahajan on Dec 1 became the first woman President of the All India Tennis Association. She replaced veteran administrator Anil Khanna who was forced to quit by the Sports Ministry.
AITA appointed former Indian Revenue Services officer Mahajan after its Executive Committee chose her unanimously for the post till the election is conducted.
Mahajan was also
the first woman chief of the Central Board of Excise and Customs/
CBEC. CBEC is the apex policy deciding body for indirect taxes.
Currently, she holds the post of administrative member of the Central Administrative Tribunal.
The Ministry asked Khanna to resign, because his election as President in 2012 was against the Sports Code that bars an official from re-election after two consecutive terms of four years.
A cooling off period is required before the person is eligible for the post again.
After agreeing to resign, Khanna was re-elected AITA President for a 4 year term till 2020. But he chose to resign and AITA as per the Constitution, elevated Mahajan one of the 10 Vice Presidents.
A special general meeting will be held by March 2017 to permit members to let the President for the remaining period closing 2020.
Apart from Mahajan, two others were eligible for post of president as per the age and tenure of the sports code
AITA: All India Tennis Association- AITA was founded in March, 1920.
- Affiliation: International Tennis Federation
- Regional Affiliation: Asian Tennis Federation
- Headquarters: RK Khanna Tennis Complex, African Avenue, Delhi
- Official website: www.aitatennis.com
