Explained: What is Lakshya Sen's age fraud case about?

The Karnataka High Court, on Monday, sent shockwaves through the Indian badminton fraternity, permitting to continue an investigation against the country's star shuttler Lakshya Sen for age fraud.

The court has allowed to investigate Lakshya's parents, elder brother Chirag Sen, and his coach Vimal Kumar on the same.

Lakshya, 23, is India's highest ranked men's singles player in the world. He played an integral part in India's historic Thomas Cup triumph in 2022 and also has a World Championships bronze against his name from 2021.

He has also won a silver medal each at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Here's all we know about the Lakshya Sen age fraud saga:

What's the case about?

The ongoing case against Lakshya Sen was filed by MG Nagaraja back in December 2022.

Nagaraja, who runs a badminton academy in Bengaluru, claimed that Lakshya was born in the year 1998. As per the official records of the Badminton World Federation and publicly available data he was born in 2001.

A FIR was filed under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), and 471 (using as genuine a forged record) as per Nagaraja's complaint.

What's the evidence?

Nagaraja, when he filed a FIR three years ago, is reported to have cited documents obtained via Right to Information (RTI) Act as evidence for the case.

He also claimed that DK Sen, Lakshya's father, was previously found guilty of manipulating records by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Why did the case gather steam now?

The case has been ongoing for several years but why has it garnered attention now?

The Karnataka High court noted that Lakshya Sen's lawyer had repeatedly sought time to present their side of arguments but failed to do so despite multiple opportunities.

The court observed that multiple stay orders were issued on the investigation since 2022 and decided not to delay the proceedings any further.

What does this mean for Lakshya Sen?

While Lakshya might continue playing internationally since he competes at the senior level, the recent court order means that the investigation into the allegations made by Nagaraja will be ramped up.

What is Lakshya's stance?

While Lakshya has never spoken publicly about the issue, his coach Vimal Kumar has always rubbished the claims.

"It is very annoying. It is cheap stuff. It is mentally very disturbing for him [Lakshya]," Vimal Kumar had told PTI when the FIR was filed in 2022.

Vimal had also categorically denied the allegations levelled against him on aiding the age fraud.

"I deny all these false allegations against me. I would not like to make any further comments in this regard," he had said.

Vimal Kumar also alleged that he was dragged into the case because Nagaraja was disgruntled as his daughter was rejected by the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy – a premier institution which he heads.

Not the first time

In fact, the FIR filed by Nagaraja is not the first time that age fraud allegations have been levelled against Lakshya Sen.

A 2018 report from Sportskeeda, stated that Lakshya has been found overage along with the likes of Aakarshi Kashyap and Dhruv Kapila. This was the same year that Lakshya won the Youth Olympics silver medal.

Besides, a CBI enquiry in 2018 had found Chirag Sen, Lakshya's elder brother of having falsified his age. Chirag, whose official documents state that he was born in 1998 was found to be competing in a tournament with a 2005 birth certificate.

He was then barred from an U-17 tournament by the Badminton Association of India.

How prevalent is age fraud?

Age fraud is a rampant issue in Indian badminton. Though the allegations against Sen brother's is the first high profile case in the sport, a report from The Bridge in 2022 had cited multiple issues regarding the same.

The Badminton Association of India, over the years, has tried to address this issue. In 2023, the federation had launched an age rectification scheme for shuttlers in the country to voluntarily undo their wrongs.