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.

MUMBAI: The BCCI on Wednesday said it was at liberty to invite bids for the tenth team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to fill in the slot left vacant by the termination of Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

BCCI president N Srinivasan said, "I cannot comment on the matter as it is currently sub judice. I?m informed the court may issue an order either today or in the near future. But as far as the board is concerned, it is at liberty to advertise for another franchise. But that?s a decision to be taken. If we have to go with nine teams, so be it."

The comments came a day after the Bombay High Court virtually left the door open for Deccan Chargers to participate in IPL season 6 by giving it 10 days to furnish an un-conditional bank guarantee of Rs 1 billion within 10 days.

Deccan Chargers had approached HC to appeal against the BCCI?s decision to terminate the franchise for breach of contract. The court on Wednesday asked Deccan Chargers to provide an unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 1 billion to BCCI within 10 days and appointed retired Supreme Court judge C K Thakkar as the arbitrator to adjudicate on the dispute between BCCI and the IPL team owners.

The BCCI counsel Rafiq Dada had also requested the HC to clarify on the issue of status quo order it had passed so that the cricket board could go ahead and issue the tender for the tenth franchise.

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India?s (BCCI) net surplus for the financial year 2011-12 has doubled to Rs 3.82 billion from Rs 1.89 billion in the previous fiscal, exceeding the cricket board?s own projection of Rs 2.96 billion.

The BCCI?s gross income for the fiscal jumped 46 per cent to Rs 8.49 billion from Rs 5.81 billion in the trailing fiscal on the back of an impressive jump in media rights income which increased to Rs 4.38 billion from Rs 3.88 billion.

The cricket board earned media rights income primarily from three of its properties -- Indian Premier League (IPL), Champions League T20 (CL T20), and international matches played in India.

While the IPL broadcast rights are held by Multi Screen Media for South Asia, Times Internet and Nimbus consortium holds the global telecast rights minus South Asia, Australia and South Africa in addition to new media rights.

The CL T20 commercial rights are held by ESPN Stars Sports, while Nimbus was the broadcast rights holder for India cricket until its deal was terminated in November last year following which Star India won the media rights till 2018 for a whopping Rs 38.51 billion.

Its surplus from IPL season 4 jumped 124 per cent to Rs 2.65 billion from Rs 1.18 billion in the prior fiscal. The surplus from Champions League T20, which has BCCI as the majority shareholder, saw a minor dip from Rs 482.9 million in the year ago period to Rs 476.3 million.

Income from tours too witnessed a sizeable jump to Rs 2.13 billion from Rs 1.94 billion.

Expenditure during the fiscal stood at Rs 4.67 billion, up from Rs 3.91 billion in the preceding fiscal. The expenditure on cricketing activities during the fiscal was up by Rs 847.6 million to Rs 3.38 billion.

The BCCI incurred an expenditure of Rs 436.4 million on television production during the fiscal, down from Rs 491.7 million in the previous fiscal.

It needs to be noted that the production for national team and domestic matches was being done by Nimbus Sport while the television production of the IPL was being done by IMG?s production division TWI until the BCCI decided to do the production in-house beginning with the India-New Zealand series.

The in-house production team is being headed by James Rego, who is Director of Broadcast Services.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has suggested that the BCCI settle its dispute with financially distressed Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, the owner of IPL franchise Deccan Chargers, through arbitration by appointing a mutually acceptable arbitrator.

The counsels of both the parties told the high court that they would seek instructions from their respective clients and place the name of their choice of arbitrators before the court. In case, the two parties fail to arrive at a consensus, the court may appoint an arbitrator to resolve the issue.

The high court had earlier directed BCCI to maintain status quo and not to invite bids for a new franchise to replace Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The court also deferred DCHL?s petition challenging BCCI?s decision to terminate the franchise till Tuesday. The BCCI had terminated Deccan Chargers? contract after the franchise rejected the lone bid to acquire the team.

The BCCI argued that the franchise has not paid the players and it has over Rs 40 billion debt from over 20 banks and financial institutions. This would hamper the franchise?s ability to run the team, which requires an investment of around Rs 1.5 billion every year, the BCCI said.

BCCI was also concerned about Deccan Chargers? ability to renew contracts of players when it has failed to clear the dues of existing players.

Deccan Chronicle counsel Zal Andhyarajunam assured that the financially distressed company would meet its obligations. He also alleged that the BCCI terminated its franchise agreement abruptly without giving them proper representation to present their views.

He said that the media company doesn?t have any debt to pay immediately. The DCHL counsel said installments are due in October, November and December.

The hearing will continue tomorrow when both the parties are expected to suggest names for appointment as an arbitrator.

MUMBAI: The financially-distressed Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), the owner of Twenty20 cricket IPL franchise Deccan Chargers, got a relief on Monday as the Bombay High Court barred the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from inviting tenders for a new team till it hears DCHL‘s petition on Monday, 24 September.

DCHL has challenged the decision of BCCI to terminate the IPL governing council‘s franchise agreement for Deccan Chargers team.

The hearing was postponed to Monday as the Deccan Chargers‘ counsel asked for more time to go through the affidavit filed by BCCI and prepare for the hearing. While granting Deccan Chargers‘ plea, the high court also asked BCCI to refrain from issuing a tender for a new franchise till 24 September.

Earlier, there was speculation in sections of the media that the BCCI has zeroed in on 10 potential cities for the new franchise and has fixed the base price at Rs 3 billion. The BCCI had on Friday terminated Deccan Chargers‘ contract. It was to decide on inviting tenders for a new team on Saturday.

DCHL, under the aegis of BCCI, had called for bids to sell its IPL team but received only one bid from PVP Ventures, a Chennai-based listed real estate and film financing company. The bid was rejected by DCHL saying the price quoted by the bidder was not good enough and the payment terms unacceptable. PVP Ventures had offered to pay Rs 450 crore upfront and another Rs 450 crore through convertible debentures.

BCCI had found PVP Ventures to be an eligible entity to own an IPL franchise and was unhappy at DCHL‘s decision to reject the bid. The bid was conducted in the presence of a court officer appointed by the high court as an observer.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale, in a statement, had said the bid was rejected despite the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI.

The BCCI said it had to take the extreme step of terminating the Deccan Chargers agreement as the franchise owner was in breach of the agreement and had failed to pay players‘ fees despite repeated assurances since May.

DCHL is burdened by crippling indebtedness (various estimates have put its borrowings at around Rs 4,000 crore) and is in dire need of funds to ward off any action by its lenders. The promoters have already pledged their shares in DCHL and also the trademarks of its newspaper brands - Deccan Chronicle, Financial Chronicle, Asian Age and Andhra Bhoomi -- to lenders.

CHENNAI: The BCCI today amended its constitution to do away with the zonal rotational policy for electing its president and allow a second term to office bearers subject to re-election.

The proposals were passed by more than three-fourth majority at a Special General Meeting, virtually paving the way for some of the senior officials to occupy or retain key positions in the Board.

The decision to do away with the zonal rotation policy means that East Zone, whose turn it was to nominate a president after N Srinivasan finished his tenure in September 2014 can nominate a suitable candidate from other zone if two state units from east propose that particular candidate‘s name.

In the new scenario also there was a chance of a contest but BCCI‘s trends show that decisions are more or less unanimous.

The decision allows Arun Jaitley to take over as the BCCI president from September 2014. Had the existing rule been in place, Jaitley who represents DDCA would have only been eligible in 2017 as it would be North Zone‘s turn then.

Another decision was to extend the tenure of office-bearers subject to re-election. This will give the likes of Dalmiya, Shashank Manohar, Srinivasan to get an additional tenure of three more years in the future.

This would also mean that Jaitley whose term comes to an end in 2017 can be re-elected and remain president for six straight years if the Northern units decide against nominating someone from a different zone.

Under the existing BCCI rules, no office bearer, barring the five VPs, are allowed to re-contest for the same post once they complete their three-year term.