Hyderabad: The Bombay High Court on Monday has set aside the arbitration verdict in favour of erstwhile IPL franchise Deccan Chargers that directed the Indian cricket board to pay the team owners more than ₹8,000 crores ( ₹4,800 crore plus taxes). The order comes as a relief to BCCI, which has been fighting a series of legal cases following past decisions.
“We were strongly in disagreement with the merits of the arbitration award and look at the latest verdict as a significant legal victory,” a BCCI official said. “This comes on the back of our legal win in the World Sports Group arbitration matter.” Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, represented BCCI in the case.
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Deccan Chargers, owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), was one of the eight original teams of the Indian Premier League. It had won the 2009 edition of the IPL, under the captaincy of Adam Gilchrist.
However, BCCI terminated the franchise in September 2012. The BCCI alleged that the franchise had breached the board's code. While DCHL tried to auction the franchise, it rejected the sole bid it received from PVP Ventures. Later BCCI terminated the contract and put all its players into the auction pool.
A single bench of the court had urged BCCI to pay ₹34 crore plus taxes to Deccan Chargers, the 2009 IPL winners. BCCI had withheld this amount hoping for it to be adjusted from the balance of the franchise fee Deccan had to pay.
“The high court has set aside the arbitral tribunal’s award which means that the BCCI will not be liable to pay ₹4,800 crore. The order passed is appealable and therefore can be challenged in an appeal,” said Ashish Pyasi, associate partner Dhir & Dhir Associates, who has represented Deccan Chargers in the past.
