Pune: Anil Khanna, the former president of All India Tennis Association (AITA) as well as the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA), said on Wednesday that all matters related to alleged land lease violations of the DLTA Sports Complex “were settled” before he handed over charge and any remaining issues should be addressed by the present management.Ajay Yashpaul, a tennis professional, has served a legal notice on the Delhi Land and Development Officer (L&DO) as well as the Union ministries of Urban and Housing, Law, Sports and Environment, asking why action has not been taken on DLTA for alleged wilful defaulting of payments, subletting the premises to corporates with no link to sports development, not having two government nominees on its board. The legal notice called upon the authorities to seal the premises for the alleged violations within 15 days, failing which Yashpaul would be compelled to file a Public Interest Litigation in the Delhi High Court.“I have not been in office for 10 years … Violations may have dated back to (his and previous managements), but they were all settled by Mr. Yashwant Singh in a meeting with Mr. Jaipal Reddy (then Union Minister of Urban Development),” Khanna, 73, told The Times of India. “If the violations are continuing 2016 onwards, I think it is better for them (present management) to answer, not for me.”Currently, DLTA is headed by former Davis Cup player and current non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, who is presently in Glasgow as the chef de mission of the Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games.Khanna took immense pride in the “legacy” he left behind as the chief of both the AITA and DLTA.“When I took over DLTA, it had a bank balance of one lakh rupees and just one small room office of 200 square feet,” he said. “Over the last 20-30 years that I got associated with DLTA, I contributed one crore and 11 lakh rupees to build the first stadium. “And after that, with the help of the government, I was instrumental in getting the Commonwealth Games and built a wonderful complex for DLTA in 2010.”Without divulging details, Khanna acknowledged breaches of the land lease conditions dating back to the 2010 Commonwealth Games when the stadium at the DLTA complex underwent renovation.“At that time (2010), there were some violations which were reported, but with the help of the then president of AITA, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, and the vice president Dr. SM Krishnaji, who was our foreign minister, we were able to settle those matters, and those matters are all closed,” he said.“Else, the government would not have given permission to build the stadium.“So what is happening now is only after 2016, I think that you will have to kindly talk to the current president who has been the president for the last 10 years. “I have given them an excellent, superb legacy. Any issue that remained should have been settled.”The 2010 CWG was mired in a scam of Himalayan proportions. The Rs. 65 crore allotted for the DLTA stadium renovation itself had come under lens, but Khanna swatted aside the query.“The CAG did a thorough audit and gave a clean chit,” he said.Pressed on the fact that the lease conditions did not allow subletting of the premises, Khanna said, “DLTA had taken prior permission” during his term as president. “If it was withdrawn, I wouldn’t know,” he added.Regardless, wasn’t subletting a violation since the land was allotted for promotion of sports? “That, you should ask the government,” Khanna said. Rewinding back to 1993, Khanna recalled with pride the effort and contributions of his late father Raj Kumar Khanna in constructing the original stadium at No. 7 Africa Avenue, Safdarjung Enclave, in South West Delhi.“The president of DLTA at that time was Naresh Chandra (the late former cabinet secretary), secretary was Shyam Minotra (former Davis Cupper). RK Khanna was the president of AITA. Various agreements were signed and the government changed the license,” he said. “DLTA had maybe 10 lakh rupees. RK Khanna put Rs. 1 crore and 11 lakh from his personal money to pay for the stadium. Then Indian Oil, Godfrey Phillips and other companies came in. Maharashtra gave Rs 30 lakh. And then DLTA gave Rs. 20 lakh.“It was not easy. India hosted the first ATP Tour event at the stadium in 1996, it was an uphill task.”But controversies, too, have swirled along. One of them was the launch of the India Tennis Centre by DLTA during his tenure as president. Contrary to what the name might suggest, it was not a player development programme, but a club membership programme with a fee of Rs. 5 lakh.The topic seemed to touch a raw nerve.“When I took over DLTA, it had one lakh rupees. I had not taken a single rupee from DLTA in 25 years. Today people are earning Rs 10 lakh a month. I had done selfless work. I had built a beautiful structure for which I need appreciation, not these kind of questions,” he said.The finances of the AITA Trust, established in 2000, has been another source of allegations. Khanna rejected the allegation that he the Trust money into personal accounts. “Everything was done with the approval of the trustees,” he said.Anil Jain, the most recent AITA president and currently the president of the AITA Trust, had told TOI recently, without revealing the specifics, that “recoveries have been made and the land in Gurgaon has been transferred back to the Trust”, suggesting some misdeeds were rectified after he took charge in 2023.Khanna dismissed it categorically: “All that is wrong. Every transaction is explainable.“I have not spoken about all these but my silence has made (people) feel that something is wrong.“People who build are the ones who get criticised. Those who do not build will not be criticised.”
