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NEW
DELHI: The Delhi High Court today issued an interim order
staying the termination of contracts between the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and those players who
have joined Subhash Chandra's Indian Cricket League.
The
court said that no government organisation could terminate
or initiate disciplinary proceedings against those players
who have joined Subhash Chandra's League. The order specially
relates to Indian Oil and Air India.
The
Court said in the fight between two giants, players should
not suffer. "Why should players have swords hanging over
their head?" it asked.
Senior
counsel for BCCI Abshishek Singhvi argued that the contracts
with the players were exclusive in nature and the terms and
conditions said clearly that they would not play for any other
organisation.
ICL
senior counsel Harish Salve, however, challenged this, saying
that these are old contracts. When there were no other organisations
promoting cricket and in the interest of the game, there should
be a fresh look into the contracts' legality.
The
court said that the contracts should remain in place during
the pendency of the case and no action of any sort by either
the BCCI or any government organisation could be taken.
However,
the court held that the argument on the BCCI contracts would
be heard later during the case.
The court has also issued notices to the ministries of defence,
youth affairs and sports, and urban development, as well as
cricket boards of Karnataka and Punjab, which have refused
to allow ICL matches in their cricket grounds.
One
of the cardinal issues in the present imbroglio is that BCCI
would kill the ICL by getting these ministries to refuse permission
for ICL matches to be held in their grounds.
The
ministries concerned had refused to allow ICL matches in their
grounds stating that they had exclusive contracts with BCCI.
ICL
had filed the petition in the Delhi High Court seeking to
restrain the board from "intimidating" its players
and interfering in its activities.
The
lawsuit also said the pensions given by BCCI to former players
should not be stopped in the event of them joining the ICL.
This
is Chandra's breakaway league's response against the BCCI's
decision to impose a lifetime ban on those players who had
defected from the board.
The
ICL gas also argued in its petition that the BCCI should be
restrained from using the Indian flag and name of the country
as it was accepted by the Board before the Supreme Court that
it was a private body.
The
newly formed cricket body wanted that no players should be
intimidated by the BCCI for playing with the ICL.
Following
the formation of the rebel cricket outfit with 51 players
already on board, the BCCI responded by sacking Kapil Dev
as chairman of the National Cricket Academy and increasing
the pay pack of domestic cricketers to prevent further exodus.
The
case will come up for hearing again on 20 September.
In
a related development reported by a newspaper here, Railway
minister Lalu Prasad has asked both BCCI and ICL to organise
more competitive cricket.
Prasad
made this statement at Varanasi, and it is important to note
that Indian Railways has welcomed ICL matches in grounds belonging
to them.
On
his reported consent to the ICL for using the Railways stadiums
for the League matches, he said the Railway authorities had
no problem in renting its stadium to any organiser if it paid
the fees for utilising sports facilities.
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