The Delhi high court has ruled that in the event the International Cricket Council disqualifies the Indian cricket team from the upcoming World Cup, the Union of India should freeze all foreign exchange transactions by Indian sponsors of the Cup.
Similar action will be taken in the event of the ICC taking any punitive action against the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the court ruled.
Effectively, the two judge bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Davinder Gupta and Justice B D Ahmed has ensured that any action taken by the ICC against Indian cricketers will hit the global body a brutal body blow -- fully 80 per cent of all sponsorship for the 2003 World Cup comes from Indian sponsors.
Reading out the operative portions of the judgment, Justice Gupta said in the event of any punitive action by the ICC against Indian players and/or the BCCI, the advertisements of the ICC's official sponsors will be banned from Indian television screens and other media.
The court admitted the public interest litigation filed by former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev, former BCCI chief N K P Salve, former Punjab governor Siddhartha Shankar Ray and two umpires who, in their petition, had pleaded that the ICC contract was harmful to the interests of the Indian players as it placed unreasonable restrictions on their advertising revenue earned through sponsorships.
None of the litigants were present in court when the judgment was delivered. The court has fixed February 18 as the date for the next hearing.
Ejaz Maqbool, advocate for Sahara India which is the official sponsor of the Indian cricket team, told rediff.com that the judgment would force the ICC and Indian sponsors to renegotiate their terms with the BCCI.
"Even if the parent bodies of the sponsors are foreign firms and are not bound by the Indian laws, their Indian branches would be hit badly because these firms earn money in India through advertising. Now it is the responsibility of the Union government to ensure that the order of the court is implemented," he said.
Asked if the ICC could go to the Supreme Court for relief, Maqbool said that option is open to both the ICC and to the Indian sponsors.
Advocates for Pepsi, Hero Honda and LG, official sponsors of the World Cup, were not available for comment.
