The Karnataka High Court recently directed the State government to pay ₹10 lakh as compensation to international chess player Sanjana Raghunath, after she was unjustly denied an MBBS seat in a government medical college under the sports quota, despite being eligible.
On October 1, a bench consisting of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind ruled that the State had acted arbitrarily by denying Raghunath admission under the sports quota, forcing her to secure a private seat instead. The Court concluded that the State’s actions caused significant hardship to Raghunath, warranting compensation.
The Court noted that categorizing Raghunath under the private seat category was clearly illegal, as the authorities had failed to apply their minds or had exercised power arbitrarily. As a result, Raghunath’s dream of pursuing an MBBS course through a government sports quota seat was unfairly crushed. The judges recognized the effort, time, and financial resources invested by Raghunath and her family in her sporting career, which ultimately went unrewarded due to the State’s actions.
Raghunath had participated in prestigious events like the Asian Youth Championship and the Commonwealth Chess Championship in 2018. However, a circular issued by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) in June 2023 stipulated that to qualify for the sports quota, applicants needed to have won certain events between June 1, 2018, and May 31, 2023. Since Raghunath’s win occurred in April 2018, she was deemed ineligible, despite scoring well in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and applying for a government seat.
As a result of this decision, Raghunath had to take a private seat, incurring fees of over ₹11 lakh. The High Court held that the KEA’s decision to exclude her was a mistake and that her achievements deserved recognition, especially given the sacrifices made in her academic training.
While the Court acknowledged that all sports quota seats for the current academic year were already filled, it decided against disturbing the finalized admissions. Instead, it ordered the State to compensate Raghunath ₹10 lakh, stating that since the opportunity to rectify her seat was no longer viable, adequate monetary compensation was the appropriate remedy.
The State has been directed to pay the compensation within six weeks. Advocate Srikanth MP represented Raghunath, while Advocates NK Ramesh, N Khetty, and MN Sudev Hegde appeared for the KEA and State authorities.
