SC Bins Plea to Stop Prasar Bharati from Using 'Team India' Title

New Delhi: Terming its "frivolous", the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea 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". A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi upheld the Delhi High Court's October 8 order, which junked the PIL filed by advocate Reepak Kansal.

"You just start sitting at home and draft petitions. What is the problem in all of this? Don't burden the court. The fact that exemplary cost was not saddled with has encouraged him to move this court," the bench observed.

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 the 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 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 regulates the use of the national name, flag and symbols.