NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court has adjourned till Tuesday, 13 September, the hearing of the Zee Telefilms versus Indian cricket board case in regards to bidding for cricket telecast rights in India.

While announcing the adjournment, the court observed that if the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) wants to open the technical bids, it could go ahead and do so. The only rider the court attached to the observation was that if the BCCI found Zee to be ineligible to bid for India rights, then it should get back to it by the 13th stating the reasons for its decision.

This development took place after the counsel for Zee Telefilms submitted before the court that the BCCI could open the technical bids to verify the eligibility of the media company.

Efforts made by Indiantelevision.com to elicit a response from BCCI proved futile.

In the earlier hearing held on 31 August, the board had assured the court that it would not decide on bids for grant of India cricket rights for the next four years till September 8, when the hearing on Zee Telefilm's petition, challenging the eligibility conditions, were to resume.

Zee had sought an interim order to restrain the BCCI from deciding the bids till the next date as "it would prejudice the interest of the petitioner, which has demanded quashing of BCCI's 'invitation to tender' (ITT) for cricket telecast rights in India on the ground that the eligibility conditions were framed to oust Indian bidders."