The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (July 1) set aside the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports' decision declaring taekwondo player Kashish Malik ineligible for the 2026 Asian Games. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 606]

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma directed the competent authority to consider forwarding her name for participation, holding that an athlete cannot be denied selection merely because the weight category in which she had qualified was subsequently merged with another category.

Malik had won a bronze medal in the -53 kg category at the Asian Taekwondo Championship, 2026.

Centre submitted that winning a bronze medal in the -53 kg category has now lost its significance since she did not win a medal in the -57 kg category, in light of the fact that the -53 kg category is no longer a standalone category.

Rejecting this approach, the bench observed,

“It is strange and meritless submission, since as per rules, a person who is eligible to participate in -53 kg and has already won a medal, is now expected to have participated in -57 kg category also, though a person is eligible to participate only in one category. To simplify, a person cannot participate in the -53 kg as well as in the -57 kg category, which were two different categories when Asian Taekwondo Championship 2026 were held in May 2026.”

Petitioner contended that her bronze medal had secured India a qualification slot in the women's under-57 kg event at the 20th Asian Games under the qualification framework prescribed by the Asian Taekwondo Union.

She argued that the Ministry had erroneously declared her ineligible solely because the under-53 kg category no longer exists as a standalone event at the Asian Games, despite the qualification rules providing for the merger of the two championship weight categories into a single Asian Games category.

Rejecting the Ministry's stand, the Court held that once the rules themselves prohibited participation in two categories, the authorities could not penalise an athlete for not having competed in both.

It further observed,

“This Court also does not agree with the contention of the learned counsel for respondent no. 1 that the petitioner cannot be treated as participating in the -57 kg category…it may be observed that the newly merged category has been designated as the "-57 kg" category. Therefore, a player who has already won a medal in any category falling between 53 kg and 57 kg would be eligible to be considered and recommended for participation in the Asian Games, 2026, as having won a medal in the merged category.”

As such, the Court directed the competent authority to consider Malik's name for forwarding to the Asian Games Organising Committee.

Appearance: Mr. Saurabh Jain and Mr. Prayag Jain, Advocates for Petitioner; Mr. Shashank Dixit, Mr. Kunal Dixit, Ms. Laavanya Kaushik and Ms. Khyaati Bansal, Advocates for R-1 and R-3 Ms. Aashita Khanna, Ms. Ritwik Prakash and Ms. Vidushpat Singhania, Advocates for R-2 Mr. Parth Goswami, Advocate for R-4

Case title: Kashish Malik v. Union Of India And Ors

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 606

Case no.: W.P.(C) 8545/2026

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