Delhi High Court Asks Centre To Consider Taekwondo Player Kashish Malik's Name For Asian Games

The Delhi High Court has urged the Centre to consider Taekwondo player Kashish Malik's name for forwarding to the Asian Games Organising Committee.

Malik approached the High Court against the order of Ministry of Youth Affair and Sports whereby she was declared ineligible to participate in the 20th Asian Games, 2026. The order was alleged to pe passed on an erroneous premise that Malik's Bronze Medal in the Women's Under-53 Kg category was irrelevant on the ground that the said category now does not exist as a standalone event at the Asian Games.

High Court was told that Malik devoted the prime years of her athletic career to representing India in international Taekwondo competitions and that, by securing a Bronze Medal at the 27th Asian Taekwondo Championships held at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in May, 2026, in the Women's Under-53 Kg category, she had secured for India a qualification slot in the Women's Under-57 Kg event at the 20th Asian Games, Aichi–Nagoya, 2026, in accordance with the qualification framework prescribed by the Asian Taekwondo Union.

As per the petition, her achievements also include participation in two World Championships, two Asian Championships, the 2018 Asian Games, where she reached the quarterfinals in the Women's Under 57 Kg category, the 13th South Asian Games, 2019, where she secured a Gold Medal in the Women‟s Under-57 Kg category, the Malaysia Cup and the Asian Invitation Cup, where she also won Gold Medals in the same category, besides securing a Bronze Medal at the Vietnam Cup, 2025.

Centre argued that Malik was not eligible to participate in the Asian Games, 2026, merely because she won a bronze medal in the -53 kg category at the Asian Taekwondo Championship, 2026 as the -53 kg and -57 kg categories have now been merged into a single category, i.e., -57 kg, and since Malik won a bronze medal only in the -53 kg category, which is no longer a standalone category, she cannot be considered automatically eligible under the Ministry's policy.

Justice Swarna Kant Sharma found this to be a strange and meritless submission, since as per rules, a person who is eligible to participate in -53 kg and has already won a medal, is now expected to have participated in -57 kg category also, though a person is eligible to participate only in one category.

"...since the -53 kg and -57 kg categories have now been merged and, after the -49 kg category, there exists only the -57 kg category, the only logical conclusion is that a player who had participated in either the -53 kg or the -57 kg category at the Asian Taekwondo Championship, 2026, would be eligible to be considered as having won a medal in the merged -57 kg category. Any other interpretation would lead to an absurd situation where, despite the rules prohibiting participation in two categories, the competent authority penalises a player for not having qualified or won a medal in both categories," Justice Sharma observed.

Case Title: Kashish Malik vs Union of India

Bench: Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma

Judgment Date: July 1, 2026