Sponsors pay if players don’t play: HC

Chances of that eventuality appeared to dim during the day. Though the ICC will formally take a decision at a meeting on Friday, BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said the world body had suggested putting the issue on hold till the tournament is over.

In an interim order, the court said that the advertisements of the official World Cup sponsors from India — Pepsi, LG and Hero Honda — would not be allowed to be telecast in case of India’s non-participation.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice B D Ahmed said that in case the ICC takes any action against Indian players for their failure to abide by its contracts, the Government and Reserve Bank of India would ensure that no foreign exchange is released from the country.

The same would hold true if the BCCI is penalised by the ICC for not honouring its commitments under the participating nations agreement, the court said.

The court gave the respondents a week’s time to file their replies on the PIL filed by, among others, former BCCI chief NKP Salve and former cricketers Kapil Dev and Madan Lal.

The court listed the matter for February 18, adding that its ruling should not prejudice the disputing parties while trying to resolve the issue at any meeting. One of the sponsors, LG Electronics India, reacted to the order by saying that it was planning to approach the Supreme Court in appeal.

The company’s general manager (marketing) Ganesh Mahalingam said the PIL was a ‘‘private interest litigation’’, adding, ‘‘We have been made victimised in a commercial battle between the BCCI and the ICC’’.

He claimed that LG India’s sponsorship agreement with the ICC could not stand the scrutiny of Indian courts because ‘‘as per the agreement, any dispute with the ICC will be handled in British courts’’.

Another sponsor, Pepsi Foods, said it would ‘‘continue to work with all parties to have a very successful world cup’’.

A spokesperson for Hero Honda said the company would react later. The present clauses in the World Cup make it incumbent on a player not to advertise or associate himself with a competing sponsor during the 46-day duration of the tournament and 30 days either side of it.

In addition, the sponsors would retain exclusive rights to use the images of the players for six months after the event.

Senior advocate Anil Dewan, appearing for the ICC, told the court at the earlier hearing on Friday that a proxy war was being fought through the PIL on behalf of the BCCI.

He had argued that the petitioners have no locus standi and, according to the Participating Nations Agreement (PNA) signed by the BCCI, any dispute arising in the contract has to be settled by arbitration in Europe.

Besides the ICC and its marketing arms, the court on Friday had sought replies from the Centre, BCCI, its President Jagmohan Dalmiya, RBI and eight sponsoring companies, on the PIL seeking a prohibition on release of foreign exchange to Indian sponsors of World Cup if the Indian players were debarred from the upcoming tournament in South Africa.