SC directs BCCI to pay Rs 100 Crores to Kochi for stay of arbitral award

The Supreme Court has directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to deposit Rs 100 Crores in favour of Kochi with immediate effect if it wants a stay of an arbitral award. Kochi Tuskers have already won the arbitration case against the Indian cricket board for wrongly terminating the franchise back in 2011 for alleged breach of contract. Since then both the parties are fighting it out in the Court and BCCI has been on the receiving end almost every time. However, the problems don’t seem to end for them after the latest order by the Supreme Court.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala was inducted into the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011 but soon their contract was terminated by BCCI as they has failed to submit a bank guarantee of 10% of the total franchise fee. They had lost the case in 2015 itself and were given an option of including the franchise back to the tournament or to pay them the whopping compensation amount of Rs 800 Crores. But they did neither of the things and are facing a tough situation in this case.

Kochi challenged the High Court’s decision

The retired Supreme Court judge Justice RC Lahoti had earlier passed an arbitral award of Rs. 800 crore in favour of Kochi Cricket Private Limited. But then BCCI had then filed a Section 34 application before the High Court challenging the decision which worked for them and that is when the opposing party approached Supreme Court. On Friday, the bench of justices AK Goel and Indu Malhotra heard the appeal of the owners of Kochi Tuskers and then directed the Indian board to pay Rs 100 Crore immediately.

The call to terminate the Kochi franchise was taken by the then BCCI president Shashank Manohar even as the other members of the board had expressed disagreement with it. According to the few officials, the board is now paying for the decision which was taken hastily.

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