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The High Court of Karnataka has ordered a comprehensive investigation led by a former Supreme Court judge to examine the procedural issues that led to the Surfing Federation of India's (SFI) violation of selection norms for the upcoming Asian Games surfing competition in Japan, slated to take place from September 19 to October 4, 2026.

The Court found that the SFI's special selection committee (SSC) and the federation's executive council did not adhere to the prescribed rules during the selection process of athletes for the event. Despite the Court's order for a fresh selection process after the Appeals Panel raised concerns about the constitution of the earlier selection committee, the Court decided not to alter the final list of selected surfers to avoid potential complications in India's participation in the competition.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order, allowing a petition filed by surfer Ramesh Budihal of Kerala, who was excluded from the main contingent. Budihal, a Bronze medalist at the Asian Surfing Championship 2025, argued that his selection as a first reserved surfer was legally questionable compared to fellow surfer Sivaraj Babu of Tamil Nadu, who was chosen as the second confirmed athlete.

The Court identified 45 points in the SFI's selection norms that the one-man commission of enquiry, led by R.V. Raveendran, a former judge of the Supreme Court, is tasked with examining to identify the reasons for deviations from the selection norms.

The inquiry aims to prevent future disputes, address deadlock resolution, and examine federation bylaws. The Court emphasized that the investigation will focus solely on identifying violations of the selection norms, not on determining which athlete is a better surfer. The dispute originated from the initial selection, which was challenged by Budihal and the Surfing Federation of Kerala, leading the Appeals Panel to direct the SFI to follow the selection norms and consider performances from January 1, 2025 onwards.

The SFI subsequently set up a special selection committee (SSC) that unanimously selected Kishore Kumar as the first confirmed athlete and Srikanth D. as the second reserved athlete. However, the SSC was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the placement of Budihal and Babu, leading to the recommendation of a surf-off between them.

One member of the committee resigned after finding the surf-off procedure contrary to the selection norms, prompting the Executive Council (EC) to intervene and select Babu as the second confirmed athlete and Budihal as the first reserve athlete.

While the Court found fault with the SSC's decision-making process, it ruled that the EC's intervention was beyond its authority, which only allows for the ratification of names approved by the selection committee. The Court expressed concern that the prolonged litigation was causing more harm to the athletes, who should focus on the competition rather than legal battles. The hope is that the commission's findings will prevent similar issues from arising in the future.