Kerala High Court Rejects PIL Challenging Use Of 'Indian Premier League' Name For IPL
The Kerala High Court has refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) questioning the legality of name “Indian Premier League” used by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for conducting IPL.The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M disposed of the petition noting that there is no merit in the argument by the petitioner....
The Kerala High Court has refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) questioning the legality of name “Indian Premier League” used by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for conducting IPL.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M disposed of the petition noting that there is no merit in the argument by the petitioner.
The petitioner argued that IPL is not an official Cricket tournament of the Country and hence the use of the name of "Indian" Premier League is illegal as used by the BCCI.
The Court rejected the contention of the petitioner at the admission stage and noted that the tournament has been continuing for several years now.
“We find no merit in the substance of the said argument and hence we do not feel that it would be proper to keep this writ petition as a Public Interest Litigation,” it said.
The Court thus refused to admit the PIL and disposed of the petition.
Case Title: Ashique Karoth v Union of India and Anr.
Case No: WP(PIL) 52/ 2026
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 153
Counsel for Petitioner: P.V.Rema, M.V. Rathish
Counsel for Respondent: V. Tekchand (Sr. GP), Arjun Venugopal (CGC)