The Karnataka High Court dismissed Lakshya Sen’s plea seeking to stay the forgery investigation related to his birth certificate. The court ruled that the probe will continue, allowing authorities to investigate the age manipulation allegations. The case involves claims of document forgery linked to badminton tournaments. Sen’s petition rejected as the court found no valid reason to halt the inquiry.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court dismissed the petitions filed by renowned badminton player Lakshya Sen, his family, and coach U. Vimal Kumar concerning allegations of falsifying birth certificates.
The court determined that there is prima facie evidence justifying an investigation into the matter.
The case arose from a private complaint by M.G. Nagaraj, who alleged that Lakshya Sen’s parents, Dhirendra and Nirmala Sen, along with his brother Chirag Sen, coach U. Vimal Kumar, and an employee of the Karnataka Badminton Association, were involved in manipulating birth records.
The complaint claims that the birth certificates of Lakshya and Chirag Sen were altered to reduce their ages by approximately two and a half years. This alleged forgery was purportedly intended to enable them to participate in age-restricted badminton tournaments and to access government benefits.
Nagaraj supported his allegations with documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and requested the court to summon original records from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in New Delhi. Based on this evidence, the court instructed the High Grounds police station to conduct an investigation.
Following this directive, police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under IPC Sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine).
However, the petitioners approached the Karnataka High Court in 2022 and obtained an interim order that halted the investigation. They argued that the complaint and the subsequent FIR were unfounded, motivated, and aimed at harassing them.
The petitioners claimed that Nagaraj was acting out of personal revenge, alleging that his daughter had applied to join the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in 2020 but was not selected after the evaluation process. Vimal Kumar, a coach at the academy, was mentioned in the complaint.
Justice M.G. Uma, while dismissing the petitions, noted that the petitioners’ counsel did not present arguments despite being given ample opportunities.
The judge also denied a request for additional time.
Justice Uma stated,
“When prima facie materials are placed on record that constitute the offenses, I do not find any reason to stall the investigation or quash the criminal proceedings,”
The complainant had provided adequate documentary evidence obtained through RTI, thereby reinforcing the necessity for an investigation.
Advocate Varun Joshi appeared for the Petitioners while HCGP Venkat Sathyanarayan and Advocate K. Vijaya Kumar appeared for the Respondents.
Case Title: Chirag Sen & Anr. v. State of Karnataka (Neutral Citation: 2025:KHC:7470)