"Got to know I'm sacked from media," says ex-TTFI secretary Kamlesh Mehta

Having been sacked from his position as the general secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India, Arjuna awardee Kamlesh Mehta has alleged that he has received no official confirmation on the same.

"I came to know about my suspension through the media," Mehta told The Bridge. "There has been no formal intimation.

"My official email access was blocked without notice, and passwords were changed. This itself shows their attitude," he added.

As reported by this publication on Thursday, Mehta was sacked after a resolution was passed against him in an Annual General Meeting (AGM) led by TTFI President Meghna Ahlawat.

Ahlawat, in a letter dated 6 January, alleged that Mehta has failed in his duties to convene an AGM despite being asked to do so. This, she contended, was the primary reason for his removal.

"Despite the circulation of the proposed agenda points a few days ago and a formal request to the Secretary General to convene the Executive Committee Meeting and the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, no response has been received from Mr Kamlesh Mehta, nor has any official notice been issued for the said meetings," the letter said.

Mehta rubbished the claim and stated that he had written an email to Ahlawat on 17 November, 2025 to fix a date for the Annual General Meeting, which went unanswered. The Bridge owns the said email in which Mehta also requested that the AGM be held in Assam – moving it out of Delhi, where it was held over the past two years.

The no response from the President led Mehta to call a Special General Meeting (SGM) earlier this month, which was chaired by Padmaja Menon, senior vice president of TTFI.

During the SGM conducted on 17 January, the present members nullified the call for AGM by Ahlawat.

"The House unanimously resolved that the AGM notice and agenda circulated by the President are unconstitutional and invalid. The present Special General Meeting, convened on requisition by more than one-third of members, is constitutional and legally valid," the minutes of the meeting from the SGM read.

While Ahlawat termed the SGM unconstitutional during the AGM she called for, Mehta maintains that only the secretary general can call an AGM, and it is indeed the President who is in the wrong.

"At the outset, Article 19(B)(a) of the TTFI Constitution categorically mentions that it is the Secretary General who has the power to convene… all the meetings. For the sake of abundant clarity, the TTFI Constitution does not grant to the President the power to call for a meeting," read an email from Mehta to all the federation members on 15 January, after Ahlawat’s call for an AGM.

Mehta maintained that the current situation doesn’t bode well for Indian table tennis.

"This is not good for table tennis. The sport is doing well, players are performing, and the government is supporting us positively. All of this is being tarnished unnecessarily," he said.

"For me, table tennis is above everything, even above myself. Whatever I am today is only because of this sport," he added.