High Court · 2025
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W.A. No.2503 of 2025IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRASDATED: 25.08.2025CORAMTHE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R. SURESH KUMARANDTHE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.DHANABALW.A. No.2503 of 2025Minor Guhan Vasanth Arepresented by father and Natural GaurdianV. Anand….AppellantVs.1. State of Tamil Nadurepresented by its Secretary to Government,Higher Education Department,Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.2. The Director of Technical Education,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.3. The Registrar,Anna University,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.4. The Member Secretary / Chief Executive Officer,(Chief Secretary Tamil Nadu Sports Minister),Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu,Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Raja Muthia Road,Periamet, Chennai-600 003.5. The Secretary to Government,Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,Government of India Shastri Bhavan,New Delhi - 110 001.…RespondentsPRAYER: The Writ appeal is filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent praying 1/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025to set aside the order dated 30.07.2025 made in W.P. No.22930 of 2025.For Appellant: Mr. P. Arumuga RajanFor Respondents: Mr. D. Ravichander[R1, R2 and R4] Special Government Pleader JUDGMENT(Judgment of the Court was made by P.DHANABAL,J.)This Writ Appeal has been preferred challenging the order passed by the Writ Court in W.P. No.22930 of 2025 dated 30.07.2025. Before the Writ Court, the appellant herein filed a petition seeking a direction to the respondents to accept the marks for sports achievement as claimed by the appellant in his application bearing No.208291 dated 27.05.2025 and accordingly, grant admission to B.E. / B.Tech Degree Course. The Writ Court, after hearing both sides, dismissed the Writ petition. Aggrieved by the said order, the present Writ appeal has been preferred by the appellant.2. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant would submit that the appellant is an eminent sports person in Roller Skating discipline and has participated and won medals both in national and international events. Upon qualifying the TN-HSC required for engineering course, he has applied for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission-2025 on 27.05.2025 with the 2nd repsondent under the Special reservation categories, Serial No.3, eminent sports persons' quota. Out of the total number of 500 seats, 12 seats are 2/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025reserved for the said quota in University Departments and 488 seats are reserved for University colleges / Government / Aided and self-financing colleges. The application of the petitioner was presented with the appropriate marks obtained by him in sports achievement along with relevant certificates issued by the recognized association totalling to 780 marks i.e, 100 marks for participation in 62nd National Roller Skating Championships, 450 marks for bagging silver medal in 19th Asian Roller Skating Championships, 130 marks for bagging Bronze medal in 60th National Roller Skating Championships Roller-Hockey and 100 marks for participation in 59th National Roller Skating Championships. The appellant was eligible in accordance with the guidelines issued by the respondents and accordingly, the 2nd respondent had invited the appellant for sports certificate verification on 02.06.2025 and the petitioner had produced all the original sport certificates for verification and the same was accepted by the 2nd respondent. Thereafter, the 2nd respondent called upon the appellant to state that the marks obtained for silver medal won for India in the 19th Asian Roller Skating Championship cannot be considered as it does not fulfil the guidelines. 2.1. Therefore, he filed a Writ petition before the Writ Court and the Writ Court having wrongly interpreted that for the term event under Category-II, the eligibility conditions for the athletes require participation in an event 3/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025involving at least 7 different countries and such competition should have been approved by the Indian Olympics Association, Sports Authority of India and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). The interpretation of the Writ Court is erroneous. The championship was approved and recognized by the appropriate Authorities under Category-II, including the international Sports Federation and involved participation from more than seven countries. Therefore, the appellant is eligible under Category-II. Therefore, the order passed by the Writ Court is liable to be set aside.3. The learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents would submit that the Tournament participated by the appellant will not come within the Category-II as 5 countries only had participated in the event participated by the appellant. National Sports Federation for the promotion and development of sports discipline of Roller-Skating has been approved by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and it will not give any prior approval except for the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games. For the 19th Asian Roller-Skating Championship held in October 2023 in China, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports did not give any No-Objection Certificate. The appellant was allotted in Computer Science in Engineering [Cyber Security] at Saveetha Engineering College (Autonomous)in the counselling dated 12.07.2025 and the 4th respondent is the appropriate 4/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025authority to recognize his Sports achievement. The Writ Court after considering all these aspects, came to a fair conclusion and dismissed the Writ petition. Therefore, the present appeal is liable to be dismissed.4. Heard both sides and perused the entire materials available on record.5. In this case, the appellant applied an application for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions-2025 with the 2nd respondent under the Special Reservation categories qua eminent sports persons' quota. According to the appellant, he is entitled to 780 marks for his sports achievement. But the Authorities have refused to accept the certificate for 450 marks for bagging silver medal in 19th Asian Roller Skating Championships. Therefore, he approached the Writ Court. 6. According to the respondents, the 19th Asian Roller-Skating Championship held in October 2023 in China, for which, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports did not give any No-Objection Certificate. The Tournament participated by the appellant will not come within the Category-II as 5 countries only had participated in the event participated by the appellant.7. At this juncture, it is relevant to extract the guidelines for International Tournament Category-II hereunder:5/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 20254(a) Guidelines For International Tournaments:-Category=-II:- World Championship, World Cup, Asian Championship, SAF Games (South Asian Games), Commonwealth championship organized in 2 years frequency by the International Sports Federation.Eligibility for athletes requires participation in an event involving at least seven different countries and such competition should have been approved by Indian Olympics Association (IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS).Open or Invitational or Memorial or any indifferent nomenclature or title of tournaments or Championships at International level, not approved by any of the above authority will not be considered for marks.8. On a careful perusal of the above said guidelines, it is clear that the eligibility for athletes requires participation in an event involving at least seven different countries and such competition should have been approved by the Indian Olympics Association(IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). In the case on hand, it is an admitted fact that in the event, in which the appellant had participated, only 5 countries had participated and moreover, for the said 19th Asian Roller-Skating Championship held in October 2023 in China, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports did not give any No-Objection Certificate. Therefore, the above said conditions that at least 7 different countries have to be participated and such competition should have been approved by the Indian Olympics Association (IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), have not been complied with. The Writ Court also after elaborate discussions came to a conclusion that the appellant 6/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025participated in an event of Under-19 Men of 19th Asian Championship Roller-Skating competition, where only 5 countries had participated. Therefore, the appellant does not come within the Category-II and dismissed the Writ petition. This Court also fully agree with the reasons given by the Writ Court. 9. However, the learned counsel appearing for the appellant would submit that since in the competition, more than 7 countries participated, this event alone cannot be isolated to comply with the conditions mentioned in the Category-II of the guidelines. The guidelines in Category-II are very clear and the Writ Court also interpreted that the 'competition' denotes the tournament containing many events and such position has been clearly referred in 5.6 & 5.11 in the General Conditions of the prospectus, whereas 5.6 refers the word competition for tournament such as District, National and etc., likewise 5.11 refers multiple events in a particular sport. Therefore, the competition is nothing but a tournament whereas the event is a specific game in which the participant played. The above said interpretation given by the Writ Court is in accordance with law. As per the prospectus, the appellant is not coming under the Category-II of the Guidelines for the international tournament. Therefore, the Writ Court has passed a reasoned order and there are no grounds to interfere with the order passed by the Writ Court.7/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 202510. In view of the same, the Writ appeal is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.(R.S.K.J.) & (P.D.B.J)25.08.2025Index: Yes/NoSpeaking order/non-speaking ordermjsR. SURESH KUMAR,JandP.DHANABAL,J[mjs]To1. State of Tamil Nadurepresented by its Secretary to Government,Higher Education Department,Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.2. The Director of Technical Education,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.3. The Registrar,Anna University,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.4. The Member Secretary / Chief Executive Officer,(Chief Secretary Tamil Nadu Sports Minister),Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu,Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Raja Muthia Road,Periamet, Chennai-600 003.5. The Secretary to Government,Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,Government of India Shastri Bhavan,8/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025New Delhi - 110 001.W.A. No.2503 of 202525.08.20259/9
W.A. No.2503 of 2025IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRASDATED: 25.08.2025CORAMTHE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R. SURESH KUMARANDTHE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.DHANABALW.A. No.2503 of 2025Minor Guhan Vasanth Arepresented by father and Natural GaurdianV. Anand….AppellantVs.1. State of Tamil Nadurepresented by its Secretary to Government,Higher Education Department,Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.2. The Director of Technical Education,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.3. The Registrar,Anna University,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.4. The Member Secretary / Chief Executive Officer,(Chief Secretary Tamil Nadu Sports Minister),Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu,Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Raja Muthia Road,Periamet, Chennai-600 003.5. The Secretary to Government,Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,Government of India Shastri Bhavan,New Delhi - 110 001.…RespondentsPRAYER: The Writ appeal is filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent praying 1/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025to set aside the order dated 30.07.2025 made in W.P. No.22930 of 2025.For Appellant: Mr. P. Arumuga RajanFor Respondents: Mr. D. Ravichander[R1, R2 and R4] Special Government Pleader JUDGMENT(Judgment of the Court was made by P.DHANABAL,J.)This Writ Appeal has been preferred challenging the order passed by the Writ Court in W.P. No.22930 of 2025 dated 30.07.2025. Before the Writ Court, the appellant herein filed a petition seeking a direction to the respondents to accept the marks for sports achievement as claimed by the appellant in his application bearing No.208291 dated 27.05.2025 and accordingly, grant admission to B.E. / B.Tech Degree Course. The Writ Court, after hearing both sides, dismissed the Writ petition. Aggrieved by the said order, the present Writ appeal has been preferred by the appellant.2. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant would submit that the appellant is an eminent sports person in Roller Skating discipline and has participated and won medals both in national and international events. Upon qualifying the TN-HSC required for engineering course, he has applied for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission-2025 on 27.05.2025 with the 2nd repsondent under the Special reservation categories, Serial No.3, eminent sports persons' quota. Out of the total number of 500 seats, 12 seats are 2/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025reserved for the said quota in University Departments and 488 seats are reserved for University colleges / Government / Aided and self-financing colleges. The application of the petitioner was presented with the appropriate marks obtained by him in sports achievement along with relevant certificates issued by the recognized association totalling to 780 marks i.e, 100 marks for participation in 62nd National Roller Skating Championships, 450 marks for bagging silver medal in 19th Asian Roller Skating Championships, 130 marks for bagging Bronze medal in 60th National Roller Skating Championships Roller-Hockey and 100 marks for participation in 59th National Roller Skating Championships. The appellant was eligible in accordance with the guidelines issued by the respondents and accordingly, the 2nd respondent had invited the appellant for sports certificate verification on 02.06.2025 and the petitioner had produced all the original sport certificates for verification and the same was accepted by the 2nd respondent. Thereafter, the 2nd respondent called upon the appellant to state that the marks obtained for silver medal won for India in the 19th Asian Roller Skating Championship cannot be considered as it does not fulfil the guidelines. 2.1. Therefore, he filed a Writ petition before the Writ Court and the Writ Court having wrongly interpreted that for the term event under Category-II, the eligibility conditions for the athletes require participation in an event 3/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025involving at least 7 different countries and such competition should have been approved by the Indian Olympics Association, Sports Authority of India and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). The interpretation of the Writ Court is erroneous. The championship was approved and recognized by the appropriate Authorities under Category-II, including the international Sports Federation and involved participation from more than seven countries. Therefore, the appellant is eligible under Category-II. Therefore, the order passed by the Writ Court is liable to be set aside.3. The learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondents would submit that the Tournament participated by the appellant will not come within the Category-II as 5 countries only had participated in the event participated by the appellant. National Sports Federation for the promotion and development of sports discipline of Roller-Skating has been approved by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and it will not give any prior approval except for the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth Games. For the 19th Asian Roller-Skating Championship held in October 2023 in China, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports did not give any No-Objection Certificate. The appellant was allotted in Computer Science in Engineering [Cyber Security] at Saveetha Engineering College (Autonomous)in the counselling dated 12.07.2025 and the 4th respondent is the appropriate 4/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025authority to recognize his Sports achievement. The Writ Court after considering all these aspects, came to a fair conclusion and dismissed the Writ petition. Therefore, the present appeal is liable to be dismissed.4. Heard both sides and perused the entire materials available on record.5. In this case, the appellant applied an application for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions-2025 with the 2nd respondent under the Special Reservation categories qua eminent sports persons' quota. According to the appellant, he is entitled to 780 marks for his sports achievement. But the Authorities have refused to accept the certificate for 450 marks for bagging silver medal in 19th Asian Roller Skating Championships. Therefore, he approached the Writ Court. 6. According to the respondents, the 19th Asian Roller-Skating Championship held in October 2023 in China, for which, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports did not give any No-Objection Certificate. The Tournament participated by the appellant will not come within the Category-II as 5 countries only had participated in the event participated by the appellant.7. At this juncture, it is relevant to extract the guidelines for International Tournament Category-II hereunder:5/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 20254(a) Guidelines For International Tournaments:-Category=-II:- World Championship, World Cup, Asian Championship, SAF Games (South Asian Games), Commonwealth championship organized in 2 years frequency by the International Sports Federation.Eligibility for athletes requires participation in an event involving at least seven different countries and such competition should have been approved by Indian Olympics Association (IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS).Open or Invitational or Memorial or any indifferent nomenclature or title of tournaments or Championships at International level, not approved by any of the above authority will not be considered for marks.8. On a careful perusal of the above said guidelines, it is clear that the eligibility for athletes requires participation in an event involving at least seven different countries and such competition should have been approved by the Indian Olympics Association(IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). In the case on hand, it is an admitted fact that in the event, in which the appellant had participated, only 5 countries had participated and moreover, for the said 19th Asian Roller-Skating Championship held in October 2023 in China, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports did not give any No-Objection Certificate. Therefore, the above said conditions that at least 7 different countries have to be participated and such competition should have been approved by the Indian Olympics Association (IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), have not been complied with. The Writ Court also after elaborate discussions came to a conclusion that the appellant 6/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025participated in an event of Under-19 Men of 19th Asian Championship Roller-Skating competition, where only 5 countries had participated. Therefore, the appellant does not come within the Category-II and dismissed the Writ petition. This Court also fully agree with the reasons given by the Writ Court. 9. However, the learned counsel appearing for the appellant would submit that since in the competition, more than 7 countries participated, this event alone cannot be isolated to comply with the conditions mentioned in the Category-II of the guidelines. The guidelines in Category-II are very clear and the Writ Court also interpreted that the 'competition' denotes the tournament containing many events and such position has been clearly referred in 5.6 & 5.11 in the General Conditions of the prospectus, whereas 5.6 refers the word competition for tournament such as District, National and etc., likewise 5.11 refers multiple events in a particular sport. Therefore, the competition is nothing but a tournament whereas the event is a specific game in which the participant played. The above said interpretation given by the Writ Court is in accordance with law. As per the prospectus, the appellant is not coming under the Category-II of the Guidelines for the international tournament. Therefore, the Writ Court has passed a reasoned order and there are no grounds to interfere with the order passed by the Writ Court.7/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 202510. In view of the same, the Writ appeal is dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.(R.S.K.J.) & (P.D.B.J)25.08.2025Index: Yes/NoSpeaking order/non-speaking ordermjsR. SURESH KUMAR,JandP.DHANABAL,J[mjs]To1. State of Tamil Nadurepresented by its Secretary to Government,Higher Education Department,Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.2. The Director of Technical Education,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.3. The Registrar,Anna University,Guindy, Chennai-600 025.4. The Member Secretary / Chief Executive Officer,(Chief Secretary Tamil Nadu Sports Minister),Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu,Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Raja Muthia Road,Periamet, Chennai-600 003.5. The Secretary to Government,Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,Government of India Shastri Bhavan,8/9 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis W.A. No.2503 of 2025New Delhi - 110 001.W.A. No.2503 of 202525.08.20259/9