Kerala High Court suggests constitution of Tribunal to hear school youth festival disputes

The Kerala High Court on Friday suggested the formation of a specialised tribunal or the appointment of an ombudsman to hear disputes and address grievances related to school Kalotsavam (a youth festival featuring various art, cultural and music competitions) [Neha Nair v state of Kerala & ors]..Justice C Jayachandran flagged the frequent petitions arising from Kalotsavam disputes and highlighted the judiciary’s limitations in adjudicating factual issues arising from such disputes under Article 226 of the Constitution and hence, suggested the formation of a tribunal.The proposed tribunal could include a retired High Court judge as chairperson, a retired IAS officer, and a third member jointly selected by the other two, the Court opined."If it is a Tribunal, this Court may suggest that the same may be under the chair of a retired High Court Judge, coupled with two members, of whom, one should be a retired person from the Indian Administrative Service, of the choice of the Government and the third person – one having special knowledge or expertise in the field of art or literature - shall be co-elected by the first two members," the Court's order said. The Court stressed on the necessity of such an arrangement to prevent the High Court's time from being consumed by disputes arising from Kalotsavam.The Court made the observations while granting relief to a participant in the State Kalotsavam.The Court allowed the petitioner, one Neha Nair, to participate in the Kalotsavam..Nair had moved the Court alleging irregularities in the evaluation process of a dance competition. The petitioner alleged that one of the three judges, Sreekutty Vinod, awarded exceptionally high marks to a candidate otherwise ranked poorly by the other two judges, which resulted in the candidate securing the first position, adversely affecting the rankings of other candidates..A Special Government Pleader presented to the Court a declaration submitted by Vinod in which she claimed her educational qualifications as a BA in Mohiniyattam with a diploma in Kuchipudi and admitted that her inclusion in the judge's panel was based solely on this declaration..However, the Court expressed shock that the authorities relied solely on the declaration to include a person into the judge's panel without verifying the credentials."This Court is alarmed to hear the said submission, only on the basis of a declaration given by a person, the authorities who are conducting the mega festival of school Kalolsavam have permitted such a person to be included in the panel of judges without ascertaining the veracity of the claims made in the declaration. The Learned Special GP has no case that even the certificates of the said judge was ascertained by the persons who are in charge of selecting the judges," the Court remarked.The Court also took note of affidavits filed by the other two judges in the panel, Soumya Nair and Susmi Krishnan, which raised serious doubts about the claims in Vinod's declaration. The Court said that the lapses in verifying the credentials of judges who are selected to adjudicate events at the Kalotsavam, reflected deeper issues in the Kalotsavam's management."This Court is of the opinion that this is not a matter, which concerns or pertains to the petitioner individually, but one which goes to the root of the matter, pointing to something rotten in the city of Denmark, which in the present context, in the conduct of the Kalotsavam," the Court observed.It proceeded to direct the respondents, including the State of Kerala, the Deputy Director of Education and the District Education Officer to file detailed counter affidavits addressing the allegations within ten days..The Court then passed an interim order permitting Nair to participate in the Kuchipudi event of the State Kalotsavam and scheduled the matter for further consideration on January 15 to examine the respondent's counter affidavits and their stance on the proposed tribunal..Advocates Harish R Menon, KT Shyamkumar, KN Abha, AG Prasanth, Aleena Sebastian and Mary Hedwig Baby appeared for the petitioner. Special Government Pleader P Santosh Kumar represented the State..[Read Order]