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Business News/ Industry / Media/  Fate of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals in hands of Supreme Court panel
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Fate of Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals in hands of Supreme Court panel

The teams are owned by N. Srinivasan and Raj Kundra, both of who are embroiled in the IPL spot-fixing scandal

Photo: Hindustan TimesPremium
Photo: Hindustan Times

New Delhi: A three-member committee of retired Supreme Court judges appointed by the apex court will decide the fate of N. Srinivasan’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), owned by Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt. Ltd.

The court on Thursday said whether RR co-owner Raj Kundra’s “misconduct" can and should result in loss of franchise granted to the team is a “different matter altogether" and was not for the court’s immediate consideration.

It said that once Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan of CSK and Kundra are accepted as team officials, their misconduct for betting on IPL matches can result in action against the franchisees concerned,, including suspension of the franchisees.

To be sure, RR argued in the apex court that even if Kundra were held guilty, the other stakeholders in the franchise need not be punished for the misconduct of one of the promoters holding only 11% equity.

It is still not clear whether the two franchises will be cancelled. Asked to comment on the judgement, RR chief executive Raghu Iyer said in a text message: “We are awaiting to read the full order first."

Indranil Das Blah, chief operating officer at Kwan Entertainment and Marketing solutions Pvt. Ltd, said: “It remains to be seen whether IPL this year will be an eight-team affair. If that’s the case, IPL’s brand equity could be impacted to an extent. There will be a severe impact on the number of matches and on the inventory that is waiting to be sold."

While Srinivasan of CSK, who is also the side-lined chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), could not be reached for comment, an official at his India Cements Ltd, which owns the team, declined to comment on the verdict. Officials of Multi Screen Media, which has the broadcast rights to IPL, did not respond to Mint’s calls.

According to IPL rules, a team can be suspended if its officials bring the event into disrepute. According to clause 11.3 (c) of the IPL franchise agreements, the agreements can be terminated if “the Franchise, any Franchise Group Company and/or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or the standing of the League, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the Franchise, the team (or any other team in the League) and/or the game of cricket."

However, the SC verdict that bars Srinivasan from contesting BCCI elections so long as he holds a commercial interest in IPL “may not necessarily impact the fate of the IPL property going forward", said Blah.

“The Supreme Court has formed a three-member committee to look into the betting aspect. We will go by the decision of the committee and the punishment decided by them," said Ranjib Biswal, IPL chairman.

apoorva@livemint.com

Venkat Ananth in New Delhi and Arzoo Dina and Khushboo Narayan in Mumbai contributed to this story.

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Published: 23 Jan 2015, 01:17 AM IST
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