Plea in HC seeks to scrap, declare system of auctioning of IPL players as illegal

A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court on Monday challenging the auctioning and selling of cricket players as part of the Indian Premier League (IPL), claiming that it "promotes corruption, nepotism and human trafficking". The matter came up before a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Brijesh Sethi which listed it for hearing on July 26 as the counsel for the petitioner was not available.

The plea sought direction to scrap or nullify and declare the "system of bidding/ auctioning/ selling of international human in the name of the game as illegal". The petition filed by Delhi resident Sudhir Sharma sought for action against the offenders, including various team owners, for allegedly violating the law. The petition arrayed as parties, ministries of Home Affairs, Law and Social Justice, Youth Affairs and Sports and Information and Broadcasting, BCCI, IPL administration and committee.

It has also made the 10 IPL teams, through their owners, as parties to the plea. It said the plea has been filed to highlight the alleged violation of rights for "having failed to regulate, ban, stop and curb the menace of human biding, selling through auctioning, vis-a-vis players in utter irrational, illegal manner with unreasonable, arbitrary, reckless, unbridled, highly irresponsible attitude and working of respondents no.5 to 17 (IPL administration and teams) which promote corruption, nepotism and human trafficking by selling of players through open bidding on national televisions by broadcasting on almost all the channels and other media platforms and also on print media".

The plea alleged that the government machinery and enforcing agencies, including the ministries concerned and BCCI, are indifferent and silent spectators to this illegal act. The petition has also referred to the game of Pro Kabaddi, saying there also human sale and purchase takes place on TV channels.

"The rich people, corporate and companies buy players through bidding process in public sale where corporate and companies offer bids for the goods (that is, players) and try to outbid each other and ultimately, the goods (players) are sold t the highest bidders (that is, the rich people, corporate and companies)... "Along with goods sold (i.e. the players) the agents, that is, (BCCI and IPL etc.) are getting huge money in more than 1000 of crore of rupees, and also international currency abroad, and is a big source of money laundering etc. and in making a huge gap of rich and poor and accumulating money through this illegal act of human bidding, selling and auctioning etc," the plea claimed.