Legal Consequences in IPL History
Author: Mohammed Asif
Introduction:
Indian Premier League (IPL) is an Indian top-notch Twenty20 league founded in 2008. The idea of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the IPL has transformed into the most profitable and most favored outlet for the game of cricket.
IPL took part annually in March or April and in May by eight teams incorporating eight different cities in India. The league was established by the Board of Control for the cricket in India (BCCI) in 2008 and is considered the creation of Lalit Modi,Vice president of BCCI who after became persona non grata subsequent allegations of financial mischief.
Few Legal controversies and their consequences in the history of IPL.
Spot-fixing and Betting
Spot-fixing refers to illegal activity in a sport in which a specific acceptance of a game, unrelated to the final result but upon which a betting market exists, is fixed in an try out to make sure a certain result in a proposition bet, some instances include something minor as timing a no-ball or wide delivery in cricket.
1. In 2013 the BCCI suspended the three players named S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan on the charges of section 420 and section 120B of the Indian Penal Code for spot-fixing and all the three of them constituted the erstwhile champions Rajasthan Royals.
2. In a separate case, Mumbai police arrested film actor Vindu Dara Singh and BCCI chief’s son-in-law and CSKs team principal meiyappan. On 24 May 2013, Maeyipaan was arrested on charges of betting, conspiracy, and cheating after he was questioned by the Mumbai Crime Branch. After his arrest, the CSL franchise immediately disowned him[1].
3. The next occurrence was with Monish Mishra who was a part of the Pune Warriors India team for the season, he was confessed to possessing said that franchisees pay black money, in the course of a sting operation Mishra was caught on the tape red-handed saying that franchises paid them black money which he had received 15 million INR from the later, among which 12 million was black money. After this incident, he formed his team.
Trademark issue in Premier league
Trademarks and secured and registered under the Trademarks ACT, 1999. Trademarks have developed as a representative of creating goodwill of various brands and its benefactors to a great extent in a brand’s business by helping them to establish their brand value.
IPL additionally has its exclusive caps, laptop skin, coffee mugs, jersey, mobile covers,and various types of goodsthat people can buy online or from stores. This also incorporatessigned merchandise by the players.
1. In 2008, a suit was filed by BCCI against rediff.com which is an online gaming company. This suit was with respect to the domain name registration of the famous game ‘Indian Fantasy League’. The name of this league was seen to be distorted sameas the IPL name and even logo. The Madras High Court in its judgment said that this had amounted to a trademark breach and prohibited its use.
2. In 2018, Grace India Sports Private Limited (GISPL) attempted to start Indian Junior Premier League. This league had similarities with IPL. Bombay High Court in its judgment stated that since GISPL had so begun a league that used deceptively similar trademark and domain names such as ‘http: www.iplt20.com’ or ‘juniorsipl.com’, GISPL was prohibited from using these domain names and goods of the same kind.
Outburst at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2010
1. In 2010 two bombs exploded inside a packed ground at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium. Royal challengers Bangalore were hosting Mumbai Indians on that day. According to the Final report, fifteen people including five security personnel were injured. Some bits of an outer segment of a wall were exploded away.
2. The explosions took place the day after the State Department had issued a travel alert that ran ‘The US government continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India’.
Racism allegations by Cheerleading girls
Some cheerleaders also alleged the IPL governing board to be racist, as nearly everyone picked for this positionisa white woman. They have raised their distress about how men in the stands watch them, objectifying what they wear and what they do. They also have to adjust profusely with their accommodation, as the team management has not provided them a proper place to stay.
1. In 2011, cheerleader Gabriella Pasqualotto raised her distressover the flirtatious parties that are administrated by her proprietor, Mumbai Indians. She had spoken out against all the parties that were going on through her blog and repeatedly, a lot of players had privacy concerns with this blog. An alternate did come in this regard as the relations between the players and cheerleaders were completely discarded from then on[2].
Termination of Lalit Modi
1. On 26 BCCI shocked the Indian cricket fraternity by suspending their vice president Lalit Modi on alleged acts of individual misdemeanors. At that point, Modi was nearly the chairman of the IPL which made the termination doubly significant[3].
There were 22 charges against Modi. These comprise rigging the franchise bids of 2010 when Pune Warriors of India and Kochi Tuskers of Kerala were inducted into the tournament charging USD 80 Million from an IPL broadcasting deal classifying BBCI information and more.
Conclusion
Dissensions and the Indian Premier League go mutually and collectively. There has barely been a year that the league has gone calmly without some difficulty or the other. While IPL has thrown up some grave dissensions over the years and the contradiction surrounding it, the league has only grown bigger on popularity charts. However, cricketers should also recognize that while they can express themselves, it should not dent the image of the sport. Exceptionally, one that is well known as the Gentleman’s Game.
References
[1] INDIA TODAY, https://www.indiatoday.in/ [2] NDTV SPORTS, https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket [3]Latest LY,https://www.latestly.com/sports/cricket/ipl-controversies-part-9-lalit-modi-suspended-in-2010-2399228.html