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MUMBAI:
The Bombay High Court Monday has ruled that the Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) has acted in haste by terminating
the franchise agreement of crisis-ridden IPL franchise Deccan
Chargers.
However,
the HC also gave a green signal to the BCCI to add a tenth
new team to the cash rich league.
The
court had on 17 September directed BCCI to maintain status
quo by not invite bids for a new franchise on a petition filed
by DCHL seeking to restrain BCCI to add a new team.
Reiterating
what it said on 26 September, the court passed an order directing
the franchise to furnish an irrevocable and unconditional
bank guarantee of Rs 1 billion on or before 9 October which
would be in force for one year.
If
DCHL manages to furnish the bank guarantee before the deadline,
it will be allowed to participate in the season 6 of the IPL
and also renew contracts with players. All the franchises
are expected to renew contracts with players before 31 October.
However,
the court clarified that the order will cease to be in effect
in the event DCHL fails to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs
1 billion.
While
delivering the order, Justice SJ Kathawala said: "Though
I find that the balance of convenience is more in favour of
DCHL, I am of the view that the following protective orders
will take care of the interest of both the parties."
The
BCCI will be entitled to invoke bank guarantee only in the
event of any default on the part of DCHL and only to the extent
necessary, the court said.
The
court also told the BCCI that it will not act on the termination
of franchise agreement pending the arbitration proceedings
and making of an award by the arbitrator.
It
also told the BCCI that it will not act on the termination
for a period of seven days if the award is in their favour.
The
court had earlier appointed retired Supreme Court judge CK
Thakkar as the sole arbitrator for the dispute between BCCI
and DCHL.
The
court disposed of the arbitration petition with a clarification
that all the observations are prima facie and the arbitrator
shall make his award without being influenced by any of the
observations made in the order.
While
directing DCHL to clear all outstanding dues includes players
fee, the court told the BCCI to deposit the amount payable
by the board to DCHL and payable in future to DCHL with the
Prothonotary and Senior Master of the court which the Prothonotary
and Senior Master shall invest in a fixed deposit of a nationalised
bank from time to time until further orders of the court.
It
needs to be noted that Yes Bank had filed a plea in the Bombay
High Court that the receivables due to DCHL from BCCI be deposited
in the media company's Yes Bank account. DCHL had also told
the court that the money from central pool be paid to its
Yes Bank account. The BCCI, however, contended that it can't
do so since other lending banks are making similar claims.
The
BCCI had on 15 September terminated the franchise agreement
with Deccan Chargers for breach of contract terms. The cricket
board had along with DCHL, the owner of Deccan Chargers team,
called for bids to sell the Hyderabad-based franchise.
DCHL
had rejected the lone Rs 9 billion bid of PVP Ventures despite
the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI.
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