Supreme Court Angered by Demand to Stop Calling BCCI Team the ‘Indian Cricket Team’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea seeking to prevent the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) team from being called ‘Team India’. The court dismissed the petition as frivolous and severely reprimanded the petitioner. The court also warned of imposing a heavy fine, calling the petition a waste of judicial time.

The petition, filed by advocate Reepak Kansal, argued that the BCCI is a private organization and not a government-recognized national sports federation. It also stated that the BCCI does not provide public information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Therefore, it was wrong to call the team of such an organization the Indian cricket team and allow it to use the national flag.

The petitioner also demanded that the Supreme Court order Prasar Bharati to instruct Doordarshan and All India Radio not to refer to the BCCI team as the Indian cricket team. The case came up for hearing on Thursday, January 22, before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi.

The bench deemed the petition unwarranted. Justice Bagchi questioned whether there were multiple organizations governing cricket in India and whether there was a dispute between two or three teams claiming to be the Indian cricket team. The court stated that since there was no such dispute, the petition was meaningless.

Chief Justice Surya Kant said, “If the Government of India had raised this issue and objected to the cricket team being called Team India, it would have been understandable. But the government has consistently supported and recognized the BCCI.” The court also noted that Parliament has passed the National Sports Administration Act, which will regulate all sports organizations.

The Chief Justice further stated that the High Court had also previously dismissed this petition. He added that the High Court should have imposed a heavy fine on the petitioner for wasting its time. The bench then dismissed the petition and initially indicated a fine of ₹10 lakh on the petitioner. However, the court withdrew the order for the fine at the request of the petitioner’s lawyer.