New Delhi | The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a PIL seeking to restrain public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, which operates Doordarshan and All India Radio, from referring to the BCCI's cricket team as "team India" as it violates laws governing the use of national symbols.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, termed the public interest litigation (PIL), filed by advocate Reepak Kansal, "sheer wastage of time".
The plea argued that calling the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) "team India" or the "Indian national cricket team" misleads the public and violates laws governing the use of national symbols.
It claimed that being a private entity, the BCCI should not be referred to as "team India", "especially when there is no sanction from the government of India".
"This is sheer wastage of court's time and your time... What is this argument? Are you saying that the team does not represent India? The team which is going and playing everywhere, they are misrepresenting? Forget about the BCCI, if Doordarshan or any other authority projects it as team India, is it not team India?" the bench asked.
The bench also pointed out how any private individual today is not prohibited from hoisting the national flag in their house.
"Are you aware how the entire ecosystem in sports globally functions? Are you aware of the rules of International Olympic Committee, which say that there should not be any interference by any State? According to you, if the government officials in sports select team, only then it will represent India.
"Are you aware of Olympic charter or Olympic movement? Are you aware that in the past, whenever government intervention was there, the federation of sports, Indian Olympic Committee have come down very heavily?" it asked.
The petition stated that the BCCI is a private society and is neither recognised as a National Sports Federation nor as a "public authority" under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
It claimed that referring to the BCCI's team as "team India" amounts to misrepresentation and could potentially violate the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, and the Flag Code of India, which regulate the use of the national name, flag and symbols.
