Supreme Court Dismisses PIL Against BCCI Representing Indian Cricket Team

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed to stop the projection of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) as the representative of the official national cricket team of India.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi dismissed a petition filed by Reepak Kansal challenging the Delhi High Court's refusal to entertain his PIL."Can BCCI become the owner of indian cricket?" the petitioner's counsel at the outset.CJI Surya Kant observed that if there are two or three teams claiming that they are representing India, then there will be inter-se rivalry among them. "Let us have a clear identity about who will represent India. There is no issue. Petition has been filed for no reason," CJI said.Justice Bagchi quipped that there is no Kerry Packer in India, noting that he had launched a parallel Australian team, which competed with the official Australian team.Justice Bagchi said that there would have been an issue "if the Government of India had come up and said that someone was usurping the status of team India through a society. "The Ministry of Sports has given its actual support, blessing and endorsement to the BCCI. So we have no reason to question that," Justice Bagchi said.Justice Bagchi also pointed out that the Supreme Court has passed various orders to govern the BCCI. The Judge also referred to the recent National Sports Governance Act passed by the Parliament, which will govern all sports bodies. CJI added that a notification has already been issued for the formation of a National Sports Tribunal, whose Chairperson will be a former Supreme Court Judge or a High Court Judge.CJ observed that the High Court was very liberal in not imposing any cost on the petitioner.Justice Bagchi observed, "the issue with the BCCI is that sometimes the tail is wagging the dog because of the funds they have." The counsel replied, "Exactly. Sometimes, cricket seems to be byproduct of something else."The bench proceeded to dismiss the petition, observing that it was a "wastage of judicial time." Initially, the CJI dictated that a cost of Rupees 10 lakh will be imposed on the petitioner. After the counsel's request, the part relating to cost was omitted. The petitioner sought to restrain Prasar Bharati, which operates Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR), from projecting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) team as the “Indian National Cricket Team” or “Team India.”Filed by lawyer Reepak Kansal, the plea argued that such portrayal misleads the public and violates laws governing the use of national symbols.The plea states that BCCI is a private society and is neither recognized as a National Sports Federation (NSF) nor a "public authority" under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.“Despite the above legal position, Prasar Bharati platforms such as Doordarshan and All India Radio continue to refer to the BCCI team as "Team India" or the "Indian National Team," with the Indian National Flag in the cricket tournament of BCCI and implicitly confer national status on a- priivate association thereby creating a false impression in the public mind and granting unwarranted commercial legitimacy to a private entity,” the plea states.It alleged that such a practice amounts to misrepresentation and could potentially violate the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the Flag Code of India, 2002, which regulate the use of the national name, flag and symbols.“The misuse of the national name and flag by these public broadcasters, not only misleads the citizens of India but also erodes the sanctity of national identity and symbols, which should be protected as a matter of constitutional propriety and public trust,” the plea states.It further submits that when government owned broadcasters like Doordarshan and All India Radio project the BCCI team as the "Indian National Team," it creates the false impression that BCCI has official or governmental status.“This writ petition is b1eing filed to ensure that national names, symbols and the Indian National Flag are not misused or associated with private commercial entities like the BCCI without proper statutory authority or recognition. The purpose, of this petition is to safeguard public trust and prevent the citizens of India from being misled into believing that the BCCI officially represents the country as the "Indian National Cricket Team," in the absence of any Governmental recognition or notification,” it says.Case : REEPAK KANSAL Vs UNION OF INDIA | SLP(C) No. 1589/2026Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Dismisses PIL Against BCCI Representing Indian Cricket Team

Amisha Shrivastava

The Court observed that the petition was frivolous and refrained from imposing exemplary costs.

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