Deccan Chargers moves Bombay HC for stay

MUMBAI: Deccan Chronicle on Saturday filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the BCCI‘s decision to terminate the contract it had with the Indian Premier League (IPL) for IPL Twenty20 cricket franchise Deccan Chargers.

BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale, in a statement, said the court heard both the parties and posted the petition for hearing on Monday, 17 September.

Earlier, explaining the decision to terminate the contract, Jagdale said despite the High Court appointing a court officer to act as an Observer at the opening of the tender, which was conducted under the aegis of the BCCI, to save the beleaguered franchise, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd rejected the bid that was received in the amount of Rs 4.50 billion cash and an equal sum in convertible debentures. This was despite the bidder meeting the eligibility criteria of the BCCI.

"BCCI has received a lawyers notice invoking arbitration from the franchise stating that it had not committed any breaches and even if such breaches were committed, the BCCI should not act to terminate the franchise till Yes Bank furnishes sufficient finance to cure the breaches. By this, Deccan Chronicle Holdings has clearly admitted its inability to cure its breaches within the time stipulated in the BCCI notice despite every bit of assistance from the BCCI," a BCCI statement said.

He said since the month of May, BCCI has received repeated assurances that the overdue player fees would be paid but all of those promises have remained unfulfilled.

The Governing Council (of the IPL) took note of the sudden change of stance by the franchise and also the fact that any further extension of time would seriously prejudice the interests of the players. The governing council at an emergency meeting in Chennai on Friday night took the final decision to terminate the contract with Deccan Chargers owner Deccan Chronicle.

"Considering the stated position of the Deccan franchise to refuse to rectify the various defaults including payments to players, foreign Boards etc, as also the deleterious effect such conduct would have on the reputation of the IPL and the franchise itself, a decision was taken to forthwith terminate the Deccan Chargers franchise," BCCI stated.

Jagdale stated that the BCCI was completely justified in its action which was taken with careful deliberation and only due to the absolute inability of the franchise to effectively run the team.

Reports had earlier indicated that Yes Bank, one of the banks that had loaned Deccan Chronicle money, had agreed to pay the players‘ salaries. The deadline for clearing players‘ dues was 1700 hrs Saturday.

Also Read: BCCI terminates Deccan Chargers contract