The Kerala High Court has restored the recognition of Chess Association Kerala, ruling that the State Sports Council acted in violation of basic principles of fairness while stripping the body of its status. The Court has ordered a fresh inquiry into the allegations against the association but allowed it to resume operations in the meantime.
In a judgment delivered on July 27, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas held that the Sports Council failed to provide the association with the complaints and documents on which it relied before taking the drastic step of withdrawing recognition.
The Court underscored that any authority exercising adjudicatory powers must ensure that the affected party is fully informed of the material being used against it and is given an opportunity to respond.
Observing that withholding such documents strikes at the very foundation of natural justice, the Court said that decisions cannot be based on evidence that has never been disclosed to the person or institution facing action.
The bench also found that the Sports Council had not complied with Section 31A(2) of the Kerala Sports Act, 2000, which mandates that a sports organisation must be granted a proper hearing before its recognition is revoked.
Consequently, the order cancelling the association’s recognition was quashed, and the Sports Council was directed to conduct a fresh examination of the allegations in accordance with law.
Pending that process, the Court restored the association’s functioning and lifted the suspension that had effectively kept it out of operation for nearly eight years. The elected office-bearers of the association will continue to manage its affairs.
The Court noted that prolonging the suspension would ultimately harm chess players across Kerala, whose interests could not be left in uncertainty any longer.
The dispute traces its roots to 2017, when allegations of irregularities surfaced against Chess Association Kerala. Acting on those complaints, the Sports Council suspended the body’s recognition and later constituted a technical committee to organise tournaments and oversee chess activities in the State.
The committee, however, ran into resistance from the All India Chess Federation, which declined to recognise it and maintained that the affairs of chess in Kerala should continue to be handled by the association affiliated with the national federation.
Matters escalated in July 2024 when the Sports Council formally withdrew the association’s recognition, prompting a legal challenge before the High Court.
Before the Court, the association argued that it had never been supplied with the complaints or supporting records that formed the basis of the action against it. It further contended that the Council had insisted on the personal appearance of a former secretary instead of allowing the current office-bearers to present the association’s case.
The High Court found substance in those objections, observing that there was no valid reason to deny the association’s elected representatives an opportunity to participate in the proceedings.
The bench also criticised the cancellation order for lacking independent reasoning. According to the Court, the order merely reproduced statutory provisions without recording specific findings on the allegations levelled against the association.
The judgment emphasised that simply citing legal provisions cannot replace a proper analysis of facts.
In a separate finding, the Court also invalidated the Sports Council’s decision to establish the technical committee. Referring to Section 31A(4) of the Kerala Sports Act, the bench pointed out that the law requires prior consultation with the relevant national federation before such a committee is formed.
The record, the Court noted, showed only that the federation had been informed of the decision after the committee was constituted, which did not satisfy the statutory requirement of consultation.
With both the de-recognition order and the constitution of the technical committee set aside, the Sports Council has now been asked to revisit the entire matter after following due process. Until then, Chess Association Kerala will continue to function under its elected administration.
