Bombay HC reserves judgement on BCCI plea against arbitrator's order

MUMBAI: The last word on the BCCI-Deccan Chargers has not been said yet as the Bombay High Court Wednesday reserved its order till tomorrow on an appeal filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The BCCI had approached Bombay HC challenging the ‘status quo‘ order passed by an arbitrator in its dispute with financially distressed Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL). The hearing on the issue was today.

Retired Supreme Court Judge C K Thakkar, who was last month appointed as the arbitrator, had last week passed an order directing BCCI not to go ahead with its termination of Deccan Chargers following which the BCCI challenged the order in High Court and secured a stay.

Earlier Deccan Chargers had faced termination from the IPL following DCHL?s inability to furnish irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 1 billion by 12 October.

Backed by its lenders, DCHL said that it was ready to furnish bank guarantee as directed by the court on 1 October. DCHL lenders have also filed a plea seeking interim relief against the termination of the franchise.

The Court had on 12 October refused to grant more time to DCHL to furnish bank guarantee after the company failed to meet the deadline for furnishing bank guarantee contending.

The Court had said that the BCCI‘s termination notice would stand if DCHL fails to furnish bank guarantee. The interim relief provided by the arbitrator also proved short lived as the court stayed the status quo order passed by the arbitrator extending deadline for submitting bank guarantee.

With termination notice standing, the DCHL‘s attempt to sell the franchise to Mumbai-based real estate firm Kamla Landmarc proved a non-starter. Kamla Landmarc is believed to have committed Rs 12.5 billion for acquiring the franchise.

The DCHL plea comes on a day when IPL Governing Council is meeting in Mumbai to discuss the termination of Deccan Chargers and the fate of the players since 31 October is the deadline for resigning players.

Earlier, the BCCI had floated tenders for a new franchise after terminating Deccan Chargers.