Big allegation against badminton player Lakshya Sen, demand to file FIR; What was the decision of the Supreme Court?

 

India's young badminton player Lakshya Sen is embroiled in a big controversy. A case has been registered against Olympian Lakshya Sen, his brother Chirag Sen, father Dhirendra Sen, mother Nirmala Sen and coach U Vimal Kumar, alleging that they provided false birth certificates for both brothers Lakshya and Chirag. It has been alleged that his age was reduced by two and a half years to enable him to participate in junior competitions. But now the Supreme Court has given relief to Lakshya Sen. A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K. Vinod Chandran of the Supreme Court has stayed the Karnataka High Court order in the case of badminton player Lakshya Sen, which had allowed an inquiry into allegations of fraud related to his date of birth (age).

 

The Supreme Court has also issued a notice to the Karnataka High Court. Arjuna Award-winning badminton player Lakshya Sen and his brother Chirag Sen had challenged the Karnataka High Court order in the Supreme Court in the date of birth dispute. Nagaraj MG, who runs a badminton academy, has alleged that Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy badminton coach Vimal Kumar, in 2010, in connivance with the parents of Lakshya Sen and Chirag Sen, had submitted fake birth certificates so that they could be allowed to participate in competitions of a certain age group. The complainant has alleged that the birth certificates were forged to avail government benefits after participating in the competition. He has submitted some documents obtained through RTI in support of his argument. The police registered a case under sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery with intent to cheat) and 471 (using false record as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

 

The FIR was registered on December 2, 2022, on the instructions of the Metropolitan Magistrate, but the Karnataka High Court had stayed the investigation by passing an interim order on December 22, 2022. The Karnataka High Court dismissed the petitions of badminton player Lakshya Sen, his family and his coach U Vimal Kumar alleging forgery in his birth certificate, saying that there is prima facie evidence in the case which indicates the need for an investigation. According to a report in The Indian Express, Justice MG Uma had passed the order on February 19 and it was made available recently.

 

Dismissing the petition, Justice MG Uma said, "When prima facie material is placed on record alleging a crime, I see no reason to stay the investigation or quash the criminal proceedings. The complainant has placed before the court substantial material comprising documents obtained under the RTI Act from the appropriate authorities. In such a situation, I see no reason to entertain the petitions." Parents and coaches of Lakshya Sen and Chirag Sen, along with their children, have sought quashing of the FIR filed against them in December 2022. According to a report by The Hindu, the petitioners have claimed that baseless allegations have been made to defame them. In fact, in 2020, Nagaraj's daughter was not admitted to the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy because her daughter did not meet the criteria for admission to the academy.