The notices were served after Baroda Bar Association (BBA) president Narendra Tiwari filed a suit against the three on Tuesday. He alleged that auctioning of cricketers is void under the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Judge PP Shah issued the notices and the hearing has been fixed for March 12, according to BBA officials.

“After cricketers are auctioned for the Twenty-20 venture organised by the BCCI, they will not be able to play the tournament on their will, which is void under the Act,” said Tiwari. He further said, "Being paid by the owners of the bid will become a part of gamble and cricket will lose its charm."

He added the notices have been sent to all owners of the IPL teams, which include Vijay Mallya of the Bangalore team, Shah Rukh Khan of the Kolkata team, GMR Holdings of the Delhi team, Mukesh Ambani of the Mumbai team, India Cements of the Chennai team, Deccan Chronicle of the Hyderabad team, Emerging Media of the Jaipur team, and Ness Wadia and Priety Zinta of the Mohali team.

Tiwari drew a parallel between the IPL and the commercialisation of the game started by Kerry Packer in 1977.