Kapil Dev, who has joined the ICL

New Delhi/Mumbai, Aug. 27: Government bodies and corporations cannot punish or sack cricketers on their payroll if they join the Indian Cricket League, Delhi High Court today said in an interim order.

The Indian Oil Corporation and Air India had earlier asked some of their players who had signed up with the rebel league to explain why they shouldn’t be sacked.

All the 51 young cricketers who have joined the ICL are public sector unit employees, recruited under the sports quota. They were registered with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and regularly played in board-recognised tournaments.

The ICL received a small bonus from the court, which called it a “giant” and placed it on a par with the board.

“Why should players suffer in a fight between two giants?” the bench asked.

BCCI counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi later clarified that the court’s restraining order applied only to government bodies and corporations and not to the cricket board.

“The BCCI would be free to take action against individual players for violation of their contracts,” he said.

A statement from board secretary Niranjan Shah echoed him, saying any player who “associates himself with any other organisation shall not be entitled to any benefits from the BCCI or be connected with any of its activities”.

“The matter being sub judice, it will not be right for us to comment,” ICL vice-president Gaurav Seth said.

The high court was hearing a petition filed by the Zee-promoted ICL, seeking to restrain the cricket board from interfering with its activities.

The court also issued notices to the defence ministry, youth and sports affairs ministry and the Karnataka State Cricket Association. The ICL has sought access to all cricket stadiums these ministries and the KSCA have leased to the BCCI.

The court did not comment on the subject of banning the board from using the Tricolour and the word “India” in its name.

The ICL has demanded the bans citing the board’s previous admission before the Supreme Court that it was not a government body.