IPL: Scrapped Franchise Kochi Tuskers Wins Arbitration against BCCI
Oct 24, 2017 at 4:03 PM
Kochi Tuskers Kerala, who was one of the two teams alongside Pune Warriors India to play the 2011 franchise-based tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) has won the arbitration over wrongfully terminating the franchise.
Kochi Cricket Private Limited owned the franchise, a consortium of multiple companies asked a whopping amount of Rs 850 crore from the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) as compensation.
The matter was discussed on Monday at the IPL Governing Council meeting before forwarding it to the general body who will take the decision.
IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla while talking to the media after the meeting said,
“Kochi Tuskers has demanded Rs 850 crore as compensation. Today we discussed the matter at IPL GC (Governing Council) meeting, and we will now place the matter before general body. Let them take a call, but obviously, some negotiations are needed.” BCCI’s offer to pay Rs 460 crore was rejected by the franchise owners earlier this year.
The franchise owners won the case of arbitration in 2015 challenging BCCI’s decision to encash bank guarantee mentioning breach of contract. The panel headed by RC Lahoti has directed the apex body to pay the franchise Rs 550 crore as compensation with 18 percent annual penalty for failing to pay.
However, over the past two years, BCCI has taken no steps either to pay them neither to bring them back in the tournament. An IPL Governing Council member was heard saying that no option was left other than paying the compensation, as it will be a stupid decision to move to Supreme Court when an arbitration decision goes against you.
The decision to terminate was taken by Shashank Manohar single-handedly, who was serving as the President of BCCI back then after disagreeing with the other members.
Reportedly, Kochi Tuskers demanded Rs 300 crore before going to the Court, and the BCCI officials denied giving them the money which will cost them more than double now.