A series of alleged irregularities in judging at Kerala’s district-level School Kalolsavam competitions has come under judicial scrutiny after students from Kasaragod and Malappuram challenged the outcomes, citing conflicts of interest and manipulated score sheets.
In Kasaragod district, Class XI student Preethika Balakrishnan of BAR Higher Secondary School, Bovikkanam, had written to the Deputy Director of Education (DDE) in mid-December objecting to the appointment of Sasi Pattannur as a judge for the mono act and drama competitions. In her complaint, she stated that Pattannur’s name had been circulated in WhatsApp groups weeks in advance and that he was a close associate of P Sasi Kumar of Nileshwar, a theatre trainer whose students regularly dominated mono-act contests. She also submitted photographs showing the two together to support her claim of a conflict of interest.
Despite the complaint, Pattannur was appointed as judge, and students trained by Sasi Kumar won both the boys’ and girls’ mono-act titles in the higher secondary category. Preethika later said she was placed last among eight participants. She explained that she did not pursue an appeal because her family could not afford the ₹5,000 appeal fee and the additional ₹10,000 deposit required if an appeal is upheld and the student advances to the state level.
In Malappuram district, Ahammed Shibiyaan KP, a Class 10 student of CHM High School, Pookolathur, pursued a similar grievance in the Arabanamuttu group dance competition. After his team was placed fourth at the Malappuram Revenue District School Kalolsavam held from 18-22 November 2025, Shibiyaan’s family paid the appeal fee and sought a review of the results.
When the district-level appeal was rejected on 6 December 2025 by the Higher Appeal Committee headed by DDE Ramlath K K, Shibiyaan used the Right to Information Act to obtain the individual score sheets of the three judges, Muhammed Kasi, Kunhimoidu, and Basheer Pantheerpadam, along with the consolidated mark list. The documents showed discrepancies between the category scores and the totals written on the sheets.
According to the RTI documents, Basheer Pantheerpadam’s sheets contained no corrections, but the other two judges had altered figures. Muhammed Kasi had raised the total of PPM Higher Secondary School, Kottukara, from 83 to 90 by revising all five category scores upward. Kunhimoidu’s sheets showed even larger discrepancies: the total for PPM HSS, Kottukara was written as 93 even though the category scores added up to 82, and PKM HSS, Edarikkode was given 93.5 instead of the actual 83.5. An additional one-point inflation was also recorded for HMY HSS, Manjeri.
When the figures were recalculated correctly, HMY HSS, Manjeri, would have been the winner with 269 out of 300, followed by CHM HS, Pookolathur, with 267. PKM HSS, Edarikkode, would have had 264.5, and PPM HSS, Kottukara, 263. However, because Manjeri did not appeal, and Kottukara’s appeal was accepted on the basis of being within two points of the declared winner, Shibiyaan’s team was initially excluded from the state-level competition.
Shibiyaan then moved the Kerala High Court. On 6 January 2026, Justice VG Arun observed that the manner in which the marks had been calculated and corrected prima facie indicated an attempt at manipulation and directed the State to explain the discrepancies. On 9 January 2026, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas allowed Shibiyaan’s team to participate in the State School Kalolsavam in Thrissur from 14-18 January 2026, based on an interim order.
Advocate Ameen Hassan K, who represented Shibiyaan pro bono, said the legal battle was continuing. He stated that under festival rules, teams that qualify through appeals or court orders are entitled to grace marks only if they secure an A grade and outperform the team originally selected from their district. He argued that since Shibiyaan’s team was effectively the district’s top performer after the corrected calculations, the grace-mark restriction should not apply to them, and he said the court had been asked to address this in the final judgment.
Source: OnManorama
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