New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the termination of the Deccan Chargers team by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) from the Indian Premier League (IPL), paving the way for a fresh auction to held on 25 October.
The apex court declined to interfere with Thursday’s Bombay high court decision, which had set aside the status quo order passed by an arbitrator on cessation of its membership in the league. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir dismissed the plea of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL), promoter of Deccan Chargers, to extend a deadline for furnishing a bank guarantee of Rs.100 crore to 25 October.
It accepted BCCI’s submission that the termination of contract with Deccan Chargers came into effect on 12 October, the day the high court had held that the arbitrator had no jurisdiction to grant status quo and declined to grant extension of time for furnishing the bank guarantee.
“The position today stands that the agreement between Deccan Chargers and BCCI is terminated and the effect of extension of time to deposit the bank guarantee will amount to forcing the contract,” said the bench, also comprising justices S.S. Nijjar and J. Chelameswar. “It has been pointed out by the BCCI about the fact of termination of contract which is effective from October 12. In such circumstance we are not inclined to entertain the special leave petition.”
The bench added that its order won’t affect the arbitration proceedings between Deccan Chargers and BCCI. DCHL, which had rushed the appeal against the high court order, had argued through senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi that it should be given a chance to furnish the bank guarantee by 25 October.
