Kerala High Court comes to aid of student whose 'Kalolsavam' dance was disrupted by power failure

The Kerala High Court recently granted relief to a student whose district-level performance for Kalolsavam (a youth festival featuring various art, cultural and music competitions) was disrupted by a power failure.

The Court allowed the 16-year-old Kuchipudi dancer to participate in the State's 'Kalolsavam' at Thrissur after finding that a technical glitch during her district-level performance in Thiruvanathapuram may have affected her evaluation.

The student had told the Court that while she was performing on stage, there was a power outage for 32 seconds. As a result, both the music and stage lights went off.

Despite the disruption, the student said that she continued her dance performance without stopping. However, she was not given a second chance to perform after the power supply was restored.

The student said that the sudden technical failure affected her morale and performance, ultimately pushing her to the fifth place in the results, whereas she deserved the first position and an 'A' grade based on the quality of her dance.

On January 13, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas came to the student's aid and set aside an order passed last month by the Deputy Director of Education/ DDE (chairman of an appellate committee), by which the student's appeal for a second chance had been rejected.

"Ext.P4 order (DDE's order) is quashed and the petitioner (student) is permitted to participate in 'Kuchuppudi' (Girls) – HSS General category in the State School Kalolsavam scheduled to commence from 14.01.2026," the Court ordered.

The DDE had earlier held that the power failure was brief and had not impacted the student's dance, adding that her performance was not as strong as that of the first-place winner.

The Court, however, opined that the student must be given an opportunity to perform at the cultural fest, which began on January 14.

"Taking note of the admitted fact that there was a power failure while the petitioner was performing, and she was not given a second chance, I am of the view that the petitioner ought to be permitted to participate in the State School Kalolsavam. Even though the petitioner is in the fifth position since there is a possibility that her performance could have been affected by a defect not attributable to the petitioner, she ought to be granted permission," the Court held.

The petitioner (student) was represented by advocates K Rajesh Kannan and Praveen N Pillai.

[Read Judgment]