Delhi High Court issues notice in plea seeking forensic audit of accounts of Table Tennis Federation of India

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Table Tennis Federation Of India (TTFI) on a plea seeking appointment of an independent auditor to examine its financial records and accounts [Manika Batra v TTFI]..Justice Rekha Palli issued notice in an application which claimed that the accounts reflected an unexplained exorbitant amount towards expenditure on accommodation charges, food, catering which, in fact, was to be taken from Associations and the teams and not to be spent out of the funding of the TTFI..The petition was moved by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) which was appointed by the High Court in its order dated February 11, 2022 suspending TTFI’s Executive Committee..The CoA had put a specific query to the TTFI accounts department to understand its financial position in the past three years.On perusal of the balance sheets and other documents, the CoA claimed that some very startling facts emerged necessitating further examination of all the accounts of, at least the last five years, along with the documents and vouchers justifying the expenditure under various heads..It was submitted that there was an inexplicable disparity in the collection of the entry fees in comparison to the past years and also the financial assistance and sponsorship being allocated to tournaments.“The most unfortunate part of the effort has been that either no supporting documents, or credible records have been made available to the CoA till date,” the plea said.Therefore, the CoA sought an independent forensic audit, relating back to the period of at least seven years..Justice Palli also issued notice in another plea filed by the CoA with respect to a Sanction and Commercial Rights Agreement between the TTFI and a private company, named UTT.The petitioners sought an agreement to be placed for examination and opinion before the Committee as well as a direction for suspension of the agreement with immediate effect..It was submitted that a bare reading of the Agreement showed that totally unconscionable and unreasonable terms were covenanted in favour of this private company.The plea stated that by these terms, the TTFI had abdicated its rights in favour of a private body.“The interests of the sport of table tennis and its players has been completely compromised and the needs of the development of the same a complete go-bye.”.Therefore, contending that no individual person can or ought to be permitted to unilaterally appropriate the authority to take a decision which can impact any aspect of the working of the TTFI, this agreement was assailed.“All the matters relating to this Agreement need a very urgent scrutiny under the orders of this court if the sport of table tennis is to achieve the glorious heights which it can attain, given the contributions and efforts of individual players who are devoting private and personal resources in developing their sport, so much so that more than fifteen Indian players are ranked at less than hundred in the international rankings,” the plea said..Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao, advocate Shashank Garg and advocate on record Aman Gupta represented the Committee of Administrators.