By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a plea against cricketer Yuvraj Singh by his old public relations firm, seeking to restrain him from hiring another.
A bench of Justices H.K. Sema and Markandey Katju dismissed the plea by Singh’s old PR firm, Percept Talent Management Private Ltd, and held some of the conditions of the contract as unconstitutional.
The bench said that one of the conditions that bound the cricketer to inform the old firm of the price at which he would be hiring the new one violated the constitution.
“It’s a free country. The condition impinged upon the cricketer’s Fundamental Right of professional freedom under Article 19 (1)(G) of the Constitution,” the bench added.
The Percept Talent management Private Ltd approached the apex court, challenging a Bombay High Court order dismissing its petition to restrain Yuvraj Singh Jan 17.
According to the petition, Yuvraj Singh engaged Percept Talent Management since 2000 and “recognising his potential, it had build the brand Yuvraj and had projected him as youth icon” to help him get the best offers of sponsorships and product endorsement.
The firm told the court that according to one of its October 2003 agreements, it assured the cricketer a minimum guarantee of Rs.10.5 million by way of product endorsement fee.
The firm also agreed that in case he became the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team, it would be able to fetch him offers for product endorsements for a minimum of Rs.15 million.
In lieu, Singh committed that he would let Percept Talent Management know the cost at which he might hire a new firm after the agreement lapsed and in case the old firm offered services at a matching cost he would renew his agreement.
Dismissing the plea, the court said that in any case its agreement with Singh had come to an end and it could not hinder the cricketer from hiring a new firm on the basis of some illegal condition of a dead agreement.