New Delhi: In a big setback for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Bombay High Court has directed it to pay a humongous sum of Rs 538 crore to defunct IPL team Kochi Tuskers Kerala. On Wednesday, the Bombay HC ruled in favour of the former IPL side urging the Indian cricket board to pay the amount awarded by the arbitration tribunal back in the year 2015.
The decision comes more than a decade after the BCCI has terminated the contract of the Kochi Tuskers side, citing a breach of the agreement. Justice RI Chagla, on Tuesday, rejected BCCI’s plea challenging the arbitral awards, reaffirming the limited scope of judicial intervention under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The single-judge bench ruled that the court cannot function as an appellate body over the arbitrator’s conclusions.
What was the matter?
The Kochi Tuskers Kerala IPL franchise, originally awarded to a consortium led by Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), was later operated by the Kochi Cricket Private Limited (KCPL). The team participated in the 2011 edition of the cash-rich league but soon after, was terminated by the Indian cricket board in September 2011 because of the failure to provide a 10 per cent bank guarantee which happened due to the internal conflicts among the owners of the franchise.
The KCPL however refuted from the allegations saying that the issue behind not providing a guarantee happened not because of internal conflict but due to unresolved matters including stadium issues and the reduction in number of the IPL matches. The BCCI, in spite of all these problems, continued to engage with the team accepting multiple payments but cancelled the contract later.
An year later in 2012, both KCPL and RSW started the arbitration proceedings and the tribunal in 2015 ruled in their favour which came as a big relief. It went on to award Rs 384 crore to KCPL for loss of profits and Rs 153 crore to RSW for wrongful encashment of the bank guarantee. The clubbed amount exceeded Rs 538 crore along with all the associated costs. BCCI later challenged it arguing that the arbitrator exceeded the jurisdiction and misused the legal principles.
In a big setback for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Bombay High Court has directed it to pay a humongous sum to defunct IPL team Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
