HC paves way for Grand Prix Badminton League

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: A division bench of the High Court of Karnataka, which had a special sitting on Friday, has refused to stay a single-judge bench order of Thursday that had allowed players associated with the Badminton Association of India (BAI) to participate in the Grand Prix Badminton League starting on Sunday.

The Bench of Justice SG Pandit and Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur that had a special sitting on Friday, which otherwise was a holiday for the HC said that the single-judge order would be subject to the final outcome of the appeal that is now before the division bench.

But no order of stay on the order of the single-judge bench of Justice R Devadas was given. The singlejudge had allowed the players to participate in the tournament in an interim order on Thursday.

The BAI had issued circulars that prevented players, coaches and technical staff from participating in the Grand Prix Badminton League organized by Bitsport Private Limited.

This was challenged by the Company and the promoters. On July 21, the Karnataka HC had stayed the circulars issued on April 10 and July 5.

On Thursday, a singlejudge bench of Justice R Devdas had allowed the players to participate in the tournament starting on August 27 in an interim order.

The HC had said, “Consequently, the petitioners shall not be prevented from conducting the Tournament as scheduled. If the players have already given their consent and have participated in the auction which was conducted, then the players who are selected may proceed to participate in the Tournament.”

The Tour nament is scheduled to be held between August 27 and September 8 in Bengaluru. It consists of eight teams with 10 players each. Of the 10 players two are international players and there are a minimum of two female players in each team.

A total of 457 players including 54 international players showed interest in the tournament and 150 were shortlisted out of which 80 were selected. The unselected players were also paid a fee.