The All India Judges Badminton Championship kicked off on Saturday morning at Delhi's Thyagaraj Stadium.

Nearly 80 judges from the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts across the country are participating in the two-day championship. They are playing in the men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles events.

The event was inaugurated today by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, as well as several judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices of High Courts were present at the inauguration ceremony.

The tournament's final matches will be played on Sunday. Former CJI BR Gavai will be present on the final day.

Speaking at the event, CJI Surya Kanta congratulated Justice Vikram Nath of the Supreme Court and Justices Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav and Sachin Datta of the Delhi High Court for their efforts in organising the tournament. 

He also said that judges’ lives are difficult, given the amount and kind of work they do, and playing sports becomes an important part of their routine. 

“I recollect that when I was a young judge, one judge of brother judges was transferred to a different High Court. Whenever he came to Chandigarh, on a lighter side we would ask him, ‘Brother, how are you?’. The only answer he would give is, ‘Hum judge logo ki life bohot miserable hai (We judges have a very miserable life)’. Actually, it is really miserable. The kind of work day and night we do. And, therefore, sports is an extremely important event which is part of our life,” he said.