Ajay Ahlawat@Ahlawat2012
Gymkhana Dangal
Since the Delhi Gymkhana Club is in news, and some serving as well as veterans are offering their views on the subject, I thought of narrating a (true) story – establishing a link between the military and the DGC. A simple Google search could verify some of the facts, as they were widely reported at that time.
The club was founded in 1913 as the Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club for British officials and military officers. After independence, it became a key social hub for senior Indian civil servants, defence officers, diplomats, politicians, and later some business elites. Membership has traditionally followed an informal 40-40-20 split (civil services, defence services, others), with very long waitlists and preferences for descendants of members.
Historically, the club was heavily influenced by military members, especially senior officers, who often held governing positions or the presidency. Elections for president and the General Committee (governing body) have been polite but occasionally contentious, with an unwritten convention of rotating the presidency between defence services and civil services.
The club was being run well. Military discipline reflected on the day-to-day affairs as well as the sense of entitlement that comes with holding senior ranks in the military.
The story took a turn for the worse in 2007-2008, when interservice rivalry, split the military
2007: The then Western Air Command chief Air Marshal P.S. Ahluwalia filed nomination for club president against the powerful serving Army Chief General J.J. Singh. This created a major "air-land battle" that threatened to divide the club's ~5,500 members along service lines (the Army had numerical superiority due to sheer size). A compromise was brokered at the last minute, involving figures like former RAW chief A.S. Dulat and ex-Army chief Gen. O.P. Malhotra. Ahluwalia withdrew to let Gen. J.J. Singh win unopposed. The understanding was that Ahluwalia would get support for the next year's term to effectively complete a two-year defence-services tenure.
The gentlemen’s agreement was not honoured
2008: Ahluwalia (now retired) contested again. Lt Gen Rajender Singh (DG Infantry), a serving senior Army officer, also filed nomination. Neither withdrew by the deadline, setting up another high-profile contest. Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh publicly backed Ahluwalia with a letter to members, emphasizing tradition and urging an unopposed election. He was ignored. The vote split members sharply along Army-IAF lines. Ahluwalia won by a margin of 213 votes. He served his tenure.
In 2009, Ahluwalia sought re-election. This sparked fresh controversy—not primarily Army vs IAF this time, but defence services vs civil services. Many Veterans argued he should step down after the "two-year defence bloc" to honour the long-standing rotation convention with civilians.
A civil servant, Prakash Chandra (DG International Taxation), defeated him.
There was calm in the paradise for a moment but things never went back to normal- internal governance issues (membership irregularities, finances, nepotism allegations) overshadowed service rivalries. In 2020, for instance, a group of senior members—including Lt Gen Rajender Singh (the 2008 Army candidate) and Air Marshal Anil Chopra—jointly signed a protest letter against the club's General Committee on management issues.
Government intervened directly in 2019. There was a MCA Probe and NCLT Petition. A Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) inspection report flagged violations. In April 2020, the Centre approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). NCLT initially appointed observers, then (in 2022) replaced the elected General Committee with a government-nominated committee/administrator. Elections were stayed, and new memberships restricted. The club fought back with a battery of high profile lawyers. But NCLAT upheld the government's actions in 2024, citing sufficient evidence of mismanagement and deviation from public objectives.
On May 22, 2026, the government cashed the chips.
