Supreme Court refuses to ban IPL but directs BCCI to preserve repute of “gentleman’s game”; Now Delhi High Court to hear petition seeking a ‘ban on the BCCI’

The Supreme Court today refused to interfere with the Indian Premier League (IPL) while directing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take appropriate steps to preserve the repute of the “gentleman’s game”. A Division Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Dipak Misra issued the direction while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by architect Sudarsha Avasthi (Sudarsha Avasthi v. Union of India & Ors., WP (c) 318/2013)..Avasthi had filed the petition seeking a probe into the spot fixing by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a stay on the remaining IPL matches. Both pleas have been denied..Advocate Vishnu Jain appeared for the petitioner while Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar appeared for the BCCI. Kumar submitted that a one-man Inquiry Commission has already been constituted to investigate into the alleged spot fixing and a report would be submitted by the Commission in 15 days. He also said that an anti-corruption unit will be accompanying the teams henceforth to prevent such incidents from happening in future..The Court, therefore, held that this was not a case where the Court could interfere. However, it came down upon the BCCI and observed that the “lackadaisical attitude” of the BCCI was a matter of concern. It, therefore, directed the one man Inquiry Commission of BCCI to submit its report within two weeks and directed the BCCI to take steps to ensure that cricket remains a ‘gentleman’s game’. It also directed the BCCI to take action against those who are at fault after the report is submitted by the Inquiry Commission..Meanwhile, another PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court (Association for Social and Humanitarian Affairs v. Union of India & Ors., WP (c) 3374/2013) seeking a ban on the BCCI. The petition has been filed by an NGO, Association for Social and Humanitarian Affairs..Advocate V.K. Malik along with Advocate Rahul Raj Malik appeared for the petitioner. In the petition, the petitioner has prayed for banning the IPL till the time a “foolproof and corrective measure is devised by the Central Government” to manage the IPL. The petitioner has further submitted in the petition that the BCCI should be banned for the time being and that the Union of India should start “managing the affairs of cricket in the country”. This petition will be heard by the Chief Justice’s Bench tomorrow..Image taken from here