Karate Athletes' International Opportunities Can't Be Compromised Due To Governance Disputes: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has observed that Indian karate athletes cannot be made to suffer or lose opportunities to participate in international events because of unresolved governance disputes and the absence of a recognised National Sports Federation (NSF) for the sport.
The division bench of Justices Tejas Karia and Madhu Jain emphasised that the interests of athletes must remain paramount and directed the authorities to endeavour to evolve an appropriate mechanism for selection and international entries in karate until a recognised NSF is constituted.
Karate athlete Akshay Mahara had approached the High Court in appeal seeking a fair, transparent and internationally compliant selection mechanism for Indian karate athletes for the 2026 Asian Games and the 22nd Asian Senior Karate Championship.
He contended that the continued absence of a recognised NSF had deprived Indian karate athletes of a fair opportunity to participate in international competitions.
It was argued that despite the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports directing the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on February 23, 2026 to constitute a transitory or ad hoc committee, in consultation with the World Karate Federation (WKF), to oversee the sport until a recognised federation was established, no such mechanism had been operationalised.
The Union Government submitted that it had issued the February 23 order to safeguard the interests of karate athletes. The IOA, in turn, informed the Court that it had requested the WKF to recognise an ad hoc committee for selecting athletes. However, the WKF opposed the proposal and communicated that athletes selected by any such committee would not be recognised.
Taking these communications on record, the Division Bench held that the appellant's contention that no efforts had been made to constitute an ad hoc committee stood refuted in as much as IOA had acted pursuant to the Ministry's directions though the proposal could not materialize.
Before parting with the case, however, the Bench underscored the larger issue affecting the sport.
"The absence of a recognised NSF for Karate is detrimental to the development of the sport in India. Indian athletes stand adversely affected, as they are deprived of opportunities to participate in international events. Athletes ought not to be made to suffer on account of administrative inaction and unresolved governance issues. Their interests must remain paramount, and their opportunities to participate in international events cannot be permitted to be compromised due to disputes, regulatory uncertainty, or administrative failures," the Court observed.
Accordingly, it directed the respondents to endeavour to provide an appropriate mechanism for selection and international entries in Karate, until a duly recognised NSF for Karate is constituted.
Appearance: Mr. Shrimay Mishra and Mr. Tushaar Nair, Advocates for Appellant; Mr. Udit Dedhiya, SPC along with Mr. Rahul Mourya, GP, Ms. Apurva Sachdev and Mr. Preyansh Gupta, Advocates for UoI. Ms. Aashita Khanna and Mr. Ritwik Prakash, Advocates for R-2 (IOA).
Case title: Akshay Mahara v. UoI
Case no.: LPA 448/2026