The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court issued a notice seeking to stop the Indian cricket team from visiting Sri Lanka.

The Home, External affairs and Youth and Sports Welfare got the notice after on a PIL to stop the Indian team from playing the tri-series in Colombo from September 8.

Justices Chitra Venkataraman and M Duraisamy, who admitted a PIL filed by an advocate, also ordered private notice to the Cricket Board to enable them pursue the case.

The petitioner, advocate Joel Poul Antony, referred to alleged human rights violations against Tamils by the Sri Lankan government, despite several appeals from the international community and asked India to support the same.

"The International community would not respect India if it sent a team to play in Sri Lanka," he said.

Recalling that India had severed all relations with South Africa when that country practiced apartheid, he alleged that Tamil refugees were being treated badly in Sri Lanka.