Bad news for BCCI, asked to pay Rs 5380000000 by HC, loses case to...

In a major setback for BCCI, the Bombay High Court has dismissed its petitions challenging arbitral awards of over Rs 538 crore in favour of the now-defunct Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala. The team participated in the IPL in 2011, but their contract was subsequently terminated by the BCCI. The dispute revolved around the BCCI’s decision to end the agreements on the grounds that KCPL and RSW allegedly failed to furnish a requisite bank guarantee.

In the order passed on Tuesday, Justice R Chagla said there is no "patent illegality" in the arbitral awards that requires the court's intervention. The Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise had been awarded to a consortium led by Rendezvous Sports World (RSW) and later operated by Kochi Cricket Private Limited (KCPL). The KCPL and RSW initiated arbitration proceedings in 2012, calling the termination wrongful.

Other contentious issues included matters concerning stadium availability and a reduction in the number of matches. An arbitral tribunal ruled in their favour in 2015. It directed BCCI to pay KCPL Rs 384.83 crore, along with 18 per cent interest from September 19, 2011, and Rs 72 lakh towards arbitration costs.

For RSW, it ordered BCCI to return Rs 153.34 crore, the amount of a “wrongfully” encashed bank guarantee, with 18 per cent interest from the date of contract termination. In its pleas before the high court, the BCCI, represented by senior counsel Rafiq A Dada, contended that the arbitration awards were “perverse, contrary to substantive Indian law”. The awards violated contract terms and were against public policy, he said.

READ | Sachin Tendulkar finally BREAKS silence on Pataudi Trophy row: 'It played a huge role in...'

As per the BCCI’s pleas, the arbitrator disregarded crucial evidence and the terms of the agreements. However, KCPL and RSW, through their legal representatives, maintained that the termination of the agreements by BCCI was premature and the move constituted a wrongful and repudiatory breach.

After considering submissions of all parties, the HC concluded that “there is no patent irregularity in the impugned awards” that requires its intervention. The high court dismissed the BCCI’s petitions, holding that they are devoid of “merit”.

The court has allowed KCPL and RSW to withdraw the money, deposited earlier by the BCCI in this matter, four weeks after its order is uploaded. However, with the BCCI seeking time to challenge the order, the court extended the initial four-week period for withdrawal of the money by two more weeks.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)