Court adjourns Chargers case till Sep 24, orders status quo

Mumbai – The Bombay High Court Monday adjourned till September 24 the hearing in the dispute between Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and directed status quo till then.

The high court’s ruling in effect bars the BCCI from taking any further action against the franchise and issuing fresh tenders for bringing a new team into the IPL fold till the disposal of the case.

The ruling also means that the cricket board would not be able to encash the Rs.33 crore given to them by YES Bank on behalf of the Chargers.

The BCCI on Friday terminated its contract with the Chargers a day after the franchise rejected the sole bid from PVP Ventures, with the Deccan Chronicle Holdings challenging the decision taken at the emergency IPL Governing Council of the board on Saturday.

The petition contended that the BCCI’s decision was illegal and bad in law, and sought the stay of termination on the grounds that the BCCI was already planning to invite tenders for the team from Hyderabad.

The BCCI, however, informed the high court that no tenders were invited to replace the Chargers from Hyderabad.

“The BCCI intends to invite tenders for new teams for cities like Ahmedabad, Vizag (Visakhapatnam) and Coimbatore. No new tenders are going to be called for Deccan Chargers now,” the BCCI pointed out.

Posting the matter for further hearing for September 24, Justice S.J. Kathawalla directed for status quo and no further action against the Chargers.

The BCCI Friday terminated the Chargers’ contract and explained in a statement the reasons for doing so.

“On Thursday, despite the Bombay High Court appointing a court officer to act as Observer at the opening of the tender, which was conducted under the aegis of the BCCI to save the beleaguered franchise, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. rejected the bid that was received in the amount of Rs.450 crore cash and an equal sum in convertible debentures. This was despite the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI,” the BCCI said.