Game over for Chargers as HC upholds termination notice

In a major setback for Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), the Bombay high court on Thursday rejected its fresh plea seeking stay on the ongoing bidding process undertaken by the BCCI for a new IPL team.

Mumbai: In a major setback for Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), the Bombay high court on Thursday rejected its fresh plea seeking stay on the ongoing bidding process undertaken by the BCCI for a new IPL team.

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Acting on an appeal filed by the BCCI, Justice RD Dhanuka also struck down an order issued by an arbitral tribunal directing the cricket board to maintain status quo with respect to termination of DCHL’s franchise agreement for Deccan Chargers — the IPL team from Hyderabad.

Retired Supreme Court judge, Justice CK Thakkar, who has been appointed as an arbitrator for deciding the dispute between DCHL and the BCCI, had on October 12

directed the cricket board to maintain status quo with respect to termination of franchise agreement with Deccan Chargers.

Justice Dhanuka struck down the arbitrator's order stating the arbitral tribunal acted beyond its jurisdiction in passing the order.

A day after terminating the Deccan Chargers' franchise, the BCCI had begun the process of finding a new IPL team inviting bids in respect of 12 cities —Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Noida, Dharamsala, Indore, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kochi, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ranchi and Vizag, from Oct 15 onwards till Oct 25.

After Thursday's court verdict in favour of the BCCI, quite a few buyers are expected to pick up the tenders from the Board's office. According to a Board insider, though the bid amount may not be as high as what Sahara paid for Pune Warriors, it certainly will be much higher than the R900 crore that PVP Ventures Limited had bid for Chargers.