Bengaluru chess player awarded Rs 10 lakh compensation by Karnataka High Court for wrongful sports quota denial

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has ordered the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to Sanjana Raghunath, an international chess player, after she was denied an MBBS seat under the sports quota despite being eligible.

A resident of Bengaluru and participant in the 2018 Asia Youth Chess Championship, she was wrongly placed in the P-5 category of the sports quota classification instead of the more prestigious P-1 in violation of rules, her legal counsel submitted.

The division bench, headed by Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Arvind, ruled that this misclassification violated the rules governing the sports quota.

Sanjana, who has represented India in multiple national and international chess tournaments, including winning a gold medal at a FIDE Chess Championship, had filed a petition after being denied the seat.

The court found that the Karnataka Examinations Authority’s (KEA) circular issued in June 2023, which categorised her under P-5, was against the rules framed in 2009.

The court further noted that Sanjana had to pay approximately Rs 11 lakh for a seat in a private medical college under the management quota due to the mistake, thereby entitling her to the compensation.

The court directed the state government to pay Rs 10 lakh within six weeks as compensation for the loss of opportunity.

The court acknowledged that since Sanjana cannot be admitted in the same academic year or a future one under the government quota, she should be compensated for the financial and career loss she incurred.

During the hearing, Sanjana’s legal counsel argued that she was fully qualified for the P-1 category, citing her achievements and merit, but was wrongly downgraded due to KEA’s objections.

This error deprived her of the opportunity to secure a seat under the sports quota. The court upheld this argument, invalidating the June 2023 circular that violated the established 2009 rules on sports quota classification.

Sanjana’s journey in chess includes participation in various prestigious tournaments, such as the 32nd Under-13 National Girls Chess Championship, and the Commonwealth Chess Championship, according to her counsel.