| To recap the day's events, following up on a comment
made yesterday during arguments in the India cricket rights case,
the BCCI today gave an affidavit in the Bombay High Court saying that
it is cancelling the tendering process for India cricket telecast
rights and may go in for a re-tendering. Following this fresh twist
to the cricket telecast saga, ESS, a joint venture between Walt Disney
and Rupert Murdoch's Star Group, withdrew its petition against the
award of the rights to Zee Telefilms.
Chandra maintained that had been awarded the contract by BCCI.
"We feel we have a concluded contract with us," he said.
He said after 14 members of the BCCI marketing committee decided
to award the contract to Zee Telefilms, they were asked to submit
$ 20 million. "We gave the money and they sent us the Letter
of Intent (LOI). But it could not be progressed further due to the
court proceedings," he said. "All 14 members of BCCI's
marketing committee will be made respondents in the case,"
Chandra asserted in an interview to the business channel CNBC TV-18.
"Let me assure your (CNBC's) viewers and everyone else that
on 6 October the cricket match will be telecast on Zee Sports."
Chandra even drew upon mythological analogies while asserting, "'Hum
dharm ki ladai ladh rahe hai aur woh adharm ki' (we are fighting
for a just cause and they are fighting for an unjust one)."
It needs noting here that Zee has announced plans to launch its
Zee Sports channel from 2 October.
Later, an official spokesperson for Zee Telefilms explained that
the BCCI is clearly seeking to contradict its own affidavit filed
earlier in the High Court, thus clearly indicating a "joint
conspiracy to keep us out and mislead the honourable court."
Pointing out that the BCCI has accepted $ 20 million and issued
a letter of intent, the Zee spokesperson added, "How can anyone
say that the rights do not legitimately belong to us? Even the BCCI
marketing committee members have expressed shock and disbelief as
they were not consulted. Zee Network will take whatever legal measures
are needed."
That the Indian cricket board could take such a decision without
consulting its members --- or that was what it was made out to be
--- is strange. At about 4:35 pm, when indiantelevision.com
got in touch with N Srinivasan, head of BCCI's marketing committee
and member of the board's tender committee, the gentleman almost
expressed his ignorance when he blurted out, "I am hearing
this from you. I am about to take a flight now and I can only comment
after I have spoken to other BCCI officials." Ditto for another
committee member, Niranjan Shah, who said, "I am not aware
of the details of the matter and so cannot offer any comment."
Shah said he was only privy to what he had seen on television and
would have to therefore discuss the issue with other cricket board
officials before saying anything on the matter.
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