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.

MUMBAI: The financially-distressed owners of IPL franchise Deccan Chargers on Friday failed to provide a bank guarantee to BCCI as directed by the Bombay High Court causing the IPL team‘s termination to continue. The dispute over the termination of the IPL franchise will now be adjudicated by an arbitrator appointed by the court.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) has, however, found a new buyer for Deccan Chargers in Mumbai-based Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Private Limited. But it will have to wait for the arbitration proceedings to begin before it can rest easy on its chance of completing its agreement with the real estate developer to sell the Hyderabad-based IPL team. DCHL did not disclose the price at which it has agreed to sell the IPl team to Kamala Landmarc, but reports estimated it to be around Rs 10 billion.

DCHL failed to provide the Rs 1 billion bank guarantee to BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) even after the court granted three additional days on its request, ending the possibility of its team‘s participation in the sixth season of IPL in 2013.

Justice S J Kathawala declined to extend the deadline for furnishing the bank guarantee for the second time saying that it had earlier accommodated DCHL by extending the deadline by three days.

The High Court had on 1 October ruled that the BCCI had acted in haste by terminating the franchise agreement of Deccan Chargers while directing the franchise to furnish an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 1 billion within 10 days. The court had clarified that the order will cease to be in effect after DCHL fails to furnish the bank guarantee.

Deccan Chargers would have been allowed to participate in the season 6 of the IPL and renew contracts with players had they managed to submit bank guarantee. All the franchises are expected to renew contracts with players before 31 October.

The court has appointed retired Supreme Court judge C K Thakkar as the sole arbitrator to adjudicate in the dispute between BCCI and DCHL. It had directed that the two parties must complete arbitration within three months.

Earlier in the day, DCHL had announced that it has agreed to sell its IPL franchise to Kamala Landmarc. DCHL informed the bourses that its board, which met on Thursday, has resolved to "sell, transfer/dispose of the Deccan Chargers Franchise business undertakings/business division of the company to Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Private Limited".

The BCCI had on 14 September terminated the franchise agreement of Deccan Chargers after DCHL rejected PVP Ventures lone bid of Rs 9 billion despite the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI. DCHL had rejected the bid by PVP Ventures, also a real estate firm, over payment terms.

PVP Ventures had bid after DCHL under the aegis of the cricket board invited tenders for purchase of the Hyderabad franchise in order to ease its financial difficulties. The sale of Deccan Chargers is critical for DCHL to cut down its debt which is estimated to be in the range of Rs 42 billion.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court Tuesday gave the owners of Deccan Chargers three more days to furnish an unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantee of Rs 1 billion in order to secure a place in the season 6 of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The high court accepted DCHL‘s application seeking extension of time to submit the bank guarantee. IPL team Deccan Chargers? owner Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) will now have to furnish the bank guarantee by Friday for its continuation as an IPL franchise.

The court had on 1 October directed Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited to furnish Rs 1 billion bank guarantee by 9 October. However, the court had also stated that the order will cease to be in effect in the event DCHL fails to furnish a bank guarantee.

The court had directed DCHL to furnish a bank guarantee to allay the fears of the Indian cricket board that the company‘s financial health was not in good shape to run the team, which in turn would have an adverse impact on the IPL.

In response, the BCCI was told that it will be entitled to invoke the bank guarantee in the event of any default on the part of DCHL but only to the extent necessary.

The court had also appointed retired Supreme Court judge C K Thakkar as an arbitrator and had said that the arbitration process be completed within three months.

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.

The BCCI had on 14 September terminated the franchise agreement of Deccan Chargers for breach of contract. The contract was terminated after DCHL rejected the lone Rs 9 billion bid of PVP Ventures despite the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI.

The cricket board had along with DCHL called for bids to sell the Hyderabad-based franchise in order to help the financially distressed company to find a buyer. The sale of Deccan Chargers is critical for DCHL to cut down its debt which is pegged at Rs 42 billion.