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The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 20 April. This would
mean that the BCCI, which could have gone in for a re-tendering
after the ongoing Indo-Pak cricket series came to an end, will have
to wait at least till the next date of hearing.
A spokesperson for Zee Telefilms hailed the interim order and added
that the company’s stand on the whole rights issue is being vindicated.
BCCI was not immediately available for comments.
After a Supreme Court order earlier this year stated that the BCCI
could not be sued for irregularities and breach of fundamental rights
on the cricket issue under certain Articles of the Indian Constitution,
Zee Telefilms approached the Madras HC seeking redressal under Article
226.
Last month, the Madras HC, while coming down heavily on the BCCI
and its former chief, Jagmohan Dalmia, however did not hand out
any relief to Zee Telefilms, stating that the latter could sue the
cricket board, which also could again put up the Indian cricket
telecast rights for sale to the highest bidder.
Zee Telefilms’ appeal against this order in front of a division
bench of the same high court, which is allowed under the legal system,
also gives another twist to the cricket saga that has got deeply
embroiled in controversies with an early end to the dispute nowhere
in sight.
Meanwhile, Zee Telefilms has also sent a letter to the BCCI claiming
compensation to the tune of Rs 16,300 million for the cancellation
of telecast rights awarded to it in September 2004.
“We have engaged a leading international accounting firm to prepare
a detailed report calculating the damages caused to us. Our preliminary
estimate of such damages is Rs 1,630 crore,” Zee Telefilms has stated
said in a notice sent to the BCCI.
The media company has also given BCCI time till 7 April to reply
to this legal notice after which it would decide on future course
of legal action. Till today, BCCI has not reverted.
The Zee missive has pointed out that the decision of the cricket
board to permit other broadcasters to telecast the cricket matches
(primarily Doordarshan in India and some foreign broadcasters outside
the country) has resulted in additional losses to the company.
"We are giving this notice to the BCCI and Dalmia so as to
invite the board to form a committee that can jointly consider the
matter in order to arrive at an agreed figure so that further costs
and expenses are saved, failing which we shall hold BCCI and Dalmia
liable for any further costs and expenses incurred by us in calculation
of damages in this complex situation,” a business newspaper, quoting
from the letter, reported some days back.
Interestingly, even while sending such letters to the BCCI, Zee
has simultaneously expressed the hope that the crisis could be resolved
“amicably.”
In a related development, the Madras HC also stayed a March 21
order of a single judge holding that termination of a tender process
by the BCCI for telecasting cricket matches in the country was "improper"
and coming down heavily on former board president Jagmohan Dalmiya.The
interim stay was granted by the first bench, comprising Chief Justice
Markandey Katju and Justice F M Ibrahim Kalifullah, on separate
appeals filed by the BCCI and Dalmiya against Justice K P Sivasubramanian's
order.
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