The Supreme Court has put aside the order by Karnataka High Court which stayed circulars issued by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) which warned badminton players, coaches and technical staff registered with it against participating in unrecognised tournaments.
A Bench comprising of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Dipankar Datta noted that the ex-parte order of High Court was passed without hearing all the parties concerned.
The High Court order was quashed by the Supreme Court while it asked it to decide on the case afresh after hearing all parties.
The High Court was also requested to decide on the matter as expeditiously as possible.
The Karnataka High Court had stayed the circulars in question last July.
The order was passed by Justice Krishna S Dixit restraining the BAI from taking any coercive action based on the circulars, while allowing the players, coaches and staff to participate in the upcoming Grand Prix Badminton League.
The High Court’s ruling had come on a plea by the organisers of the Grand Prix Badminton League challenging two circulars issued by the BAI in April and July.
The circulars said that players, coaches and staff could not participate in tournaments not recognised by the Association without approval. Violators of the circulars were to be held liable for action under the rules of BAI.
The league, licensed by the Karnataka Badminton Association, had received more than 450 registrations for its second season commencing on August 27. Owing to the circulars, many players were skeptical about participating in it.
The organisers had approached BAI several times to seek clarity on the status of the league, but received no reply. Since there was only about a month for the league to commence, they approached the High Court, which stayed the circular.
The BAI then moved the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s grant of permission to participate in such leagues.
Before the apex court, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan with Advocates Azim H Laskar, Bikas Kargupta and Chandra Bhushan Prasad appeared for the Badminton Association of India.
Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta with Advocates Gyanendra Kumar, Soumya Dasgupta and Anupama Dhurve, briefed by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, appeared for the private league organisers.