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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
N.NAGARESH
Deion Paul Naveen Represented By His Father And Natural Guardian Naveen Paul – Appellant
Versus
State Of Kerala – Respondent
JUDGMENT
N.NAGARESH, J.
W.P.(C) No.29970/2025 has been filed by the petitioner seeking to direct the State of Kerala and the Director General of Education to create a separate category of Under-14 for the event of Archery under Ext.P8 Circular and use the same yardstick implemented by the School Games Federation of India in holding the event.
2. W.P.(C) No.32578/2025 is filed by four Secondary and Higher Secondary School students seeking to direct the Director of Public Instructions to conduct Roller Skating competition for Under-17 age group to enable the petitioners to participate in Under-17 category in District and State Level competition.
3. The petitioner in W.P.(C) No.29970/2025 states that the expertise, strength, skill and proficiency in sport of a 14 year old defers vastly from a 17 year old. Therefore, the School Games Federation of India holds separate archery events at the national level for Under-14 and Under-17 boys. However, the State authorities are treating both the Under-14 and Under-17 archery participants similarly and make them compete in a single event. This results in the Under-14 participants losing out to Under-17. Outstanding sportsmen Under-14 remain unnotic
Excluding younger age categories from competitions violates equality rights, necessitating recognition from educational authorities to ensure fair play and development in sports.
The court emphasized the necessity for sports associations to maintain proper recognition to ensure participants' rights and benefits are not compromised due to administrative disputes.
The court established that arbitrary restrictions on eligibility criteria for sports quotas violate constitutional principles of equality and fair classification.
Denial of sports quota admission based on non-recognition of valid sports certificates was held unconstitutional, emphasizing equal treatment under the law for sports distinctions recognized by autho....
Judicial review of policy decisions in sports is limited; courts should not interfere unless there is clear evidence of arbitrariness or mala fides.
Judicial review in sports policy matters is limited to cases of evident arbitrariness; courts should defer to the expertise of selection committees unless clear injustice is demonstrated.
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