Kerala School Kalolsavams: High Court Directs Govt To Ensure No Mishaps Happen At Kalolsavams In Future; Advises Parents To Allow Children Accept Failure

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a batch of petitions filed by aggrieved participants of Kerala School Kalolsavam's Revenue District Level School Kalolsavam.

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Murali Purushothaman said the court caanot not sit in appeal over the award of marks by the panel of judges in a proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution, as regards the grievance relating to assessment of performance of candidates and evaluation of marks.

The Court relied upon the Rhomy Chandra Mohan v. General Convenor, Balakalotsavam and Yuvajanotsavam (1992), and Sweety v. State of Kerala (1994), in this regard.

"With regard to complaints of poor stage arrangements including technical glitches, poor audio system, lack of space for performance, and whether these factors had affected the performance of the contestants, are again matters which cannot be considered in a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. Of course, these matters can be looked into by the appeal committees. The judges against whom allegations of extraneous considerations have been made are not parties to the writ petitions and the allegations are not supported by proof. In most cases, the contestants whose selection has been called in question are not made parties to the writ petitions. qualification of the judges in the panel and their expertise in the particular item of competition are also not matters which this Court can determine," the court said.

However, as regards the averments by some of the aggrieved participants regarding them being injured due to the stage not being properly laid, uneven surface, holes and presence of broken bangles, pins and nails on the floor of the stage, the Court directed the Principle Secretary to Government, General Education Department to ensure that no such mishaps happen in future at the Kalolsavams at any level.

It added that in case of any such mishap, the stage managers or/and other organizers responsible for such incidents shall be proceeded against appropriately.

"The officers responsible for arranging the stages shall be made aware of the penal consequences that they may entail in such cases, including proceedings under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The Committee for Manual reforms shall make necessary provisions in the Manual in this regard," it added.

The instant batch of petitions were filed by the participants in the Revenue District Level School Kalolsavam, 2022-2023. As per clause 10.20 of Chapter 10 of the Manual, only the candidates who get 'A' Grade with the top most mark in an item of competition in the Revenue District Level School Kalolsavam can participate in the State School Kalolsavam.

The State level Kerala School Kalolsavam 2022-2023, is scheduled to be held from 03.01.2023 to 07.01.2023 at Kozhikode.

The petitioners herein could not qualify for participation in the State level Kerala School Kalolsavam since they did not attain the highest score in the events in the respective revenue districts. On being aggrieved by the same, they had preferred appeals before the Revenue District Level Appellate Committee constituted as per the Kerala School Kalolsava Manual. 

The evaluation of marks by the judges and the decision of the Revenue District Level Appeal Committees in appeals were challenged on various grounds in the instant petitions, and the petitioners sought for direction to the authorities to permit them to participate in their respective items in the Kerala School Kalolsavam 2022-2023, to be held at the State level.

The court noted that the aggrieved participants in the various petitions have levelled allegations with respect to judges not having relevant knowledge about a particular art form, poor arrangement of stage by the organizers, technical glitches and defective audio system, lack of experts in the panel of judges, extraneous considerations in the award of marks, and so on.

The Court again placed reliance upon the decision in Sweety (Supra), to reiterate that although the Committees constituted for such purposes as is the case herein could not be equated with ordinary judicial or quasi judicial bodies, the decision of the appeal committees shall be accepted as conclusive and final.

The Court noted that considering the tight time schedule of the Kalolsavam, there may not be much time left for consideration of appeals by the appeal committees and they have to dispose of the appeals within five days or before the commencement of the Kalolsavam at the next level, which ever is earlier. However, despite the same, several appeals were being filed before such committees

"The attractiveness of grace marks and cultural scholarships, misplaced anxieties of parents also lead to filing of appeals in most cases. If the decisions of the appeal committees are not treated as conclusive and final in cases other than where there is gross vitiating circumstances, the entire equilibrium in the time schedule fixed for conducting the Kalolsavam would be unsettled and defeated".

The Court added that it could not find any vitiating circumstance in the instant case justifying its interference.

Importantly, Court also provided a word of advice to the aggrieved minor participants in the Kalolsavam, and reminded them participating in such events were more important than winning the same.

"Before parting with the cases, I would like to observe that, the petitioners are not less talented than those who got the top score in the competitions. It is more important to participate than to win. Winning is not everything and the parents shall also equip their children to accept failure. Distorted or misplaced anxieties of parents may make the children slip into depression. Kalolsavams shall not be a platform for excess luxury or unhealthy competitions. Hope the parents of minor litigants before this Court may understand that there may be more talented students in the poor strata of the society who cannot afford costly costume or bear other expenses for the competition or the festival. As held by this Court in Rhomy Chandra Mohan (supra), if the true spirit of the festival, namely, healthy competition, is inculcated, there will be no cause for any grievances," Justice Purushothaman said.

Case Title: Devna Sumesh v. State of Kerala & Ors.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 669

Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment