Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly Slapped With Notice for Endorsing Fantasy Leagues Apps
Published - 03 Nov 2020, 07:30 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:36 AM
The Madurai bench of Madras high court on Tuesday issued notices to Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, actors Prakash Raj, Tammana, Rana and Sudip Khan for their involvement in online sports app advertisements. A bench consisting of Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi issued the notices to these celebrities as well as other such apps.
The case was filed by an advocate Mohammed Rizvi after some youths died by suicide in the state after losing money by playing matches in such apps. “The apps are in the name of IPL teams such as Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and some apps are also in the name of state’s names. Are these teams playing on behalf of the state,” asked the bench.
Madurai bench accuses the owners of these apps of using celebrities for the sake of earning crores
The bench accused the owners of these apps of using celebrities for the sake of earning crores. All the above names need to respond to the notice by November 19.
This is not the first time such a case has been filed against Kohli. Back in August, a Chennai based lawyer had filed a similar case, seeking a ban on online gambling, and asking for the arrest of celebrities endorsing it. The petition by the lawyer stated that addiction to gambling is more dangerous to society and violates Article 21 of the Constitution of India, as it infringes the right to life.
This is right after Mobile Premier League (MPL) was picked as the apparel sponsor of the Indian cricket team for a period of three years.
While Puma and Adidas had earlier picked up the bid papers for apparel sponsorship, they didn’t fill the bid as they felt that the deal needed to be reduced to one third from the original bid. Nike had a five year deal during which they paid ₹370 crore from 2016 to 2020 with a ₹30 crore royalty.
