Karnataka HC Reserves Order on Surfer Ramesh Budihal's Asian Games Plea

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday reserved its order on a petition filed by surfer Ramesh Budihal, who challenged the national surfing federation's selection process for the upcoming Asian Games.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj reserved the verdict after hearing arguments from both sides. Budihal, who won a bronze medal at the 2025 Asian Surfing Championship in Tamil Nadu and is the only Indian to have won a medal at the competition, approached the court after the federation's Executive Council selected surfer Babu on June 23 while placing Budihal as the first reserve.

The Asian Games are scheduled to take place in Japan from September 19 to October 4. Budihal argued in his petition that the selection decision was taken without following the procedure prescribed by the federation, calling it arbitrary, discriminatory, and unreasonable, and alleging a violation of his fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.

During the proceedings, the federation acknowledged that its Executive Council holds no power under its bye-laws to select participants for the Asian Games. The submission followed an earlier query from the court regarding the provision under which the council claimed selection authority. The federation stated that the Executive Council stepped in to make the decision on July 23 after the selection committee failed to issue any recommendation.

The federation proposed holding a surf-off between Babu and Budihal to determine who should represent the country. However, Budihal's counsel opposed the proposal, submitting that a surf-off is not contemplated under the federation's selection policy. Counsel argued that the existing policy provides for selection based on past performance or, where applicable, through a coin toss, and asserted that Budihal was being unfairly denied the opportunity to compete for India despite his medal-winning track record.