HC junks BCCI’s pleas against arbitration awards, asks it to pay Rs 538 cr to defunct IPL franchise

Mumbai, Jun 18 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has dismissed the petitions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) challenging arbitral awards of over Rs 538 crore in favour of the now-defunct Indian Premier League franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

In the order passed on Tuesday, Justice R Chagla said there is no “patent illegality” in the arbitral awards that requires the court’s intervention. It has asked BCCI to pay the amount.

The Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise had been awarded to a consortium led by Rendezvous Sports World (RSW) and later operated by Kochi Cricket Private Limited (KCPL).

The team participated in the IPL in 2011, but their contract was terminated by the BCCI the following year.

The dispute revolved around BCCI’s termination of agreements on the grounds that KCPL and RSW allegedly failed to furnish a requisite bank guarantee.

The KCPL and RSW initiated arbitration proceedings in 2012, terming the termination wrongful.

The arbitral tribunal ruled in their favour in 2015. It awarded over Rs 384.8 crore to KCPL and ordered the return of over Rs 153.3 crore to RSW along with interest and costs.

The BCCI had challenged these orders before the HC. PTI AVI NR