CHENNAI: Upholding the order of the Supreme Court-appointed arbitrator, asking BCCI to compensate the now-defunct IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the apex court on Thursday directed the board to pay Rs 550 crore with 18 per cent interest, which comes to Rs 1,700 crore.
BCCI had moved SC after having lost the arbitration. If not taken back next season, the franchise will seek a stay on IPL 2018. In 2011, BCCI terminated KTK, citing breach of franchise agreement and encashed bank guarantee of Rs 153 crore. It demanded Rs 350 crore as compensation, and took the legal route after BCCI’s refusal.
Upholding the order of the Supreme Court-appointed arbitrator, asking the BCCI to compensate the now-defunct IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala, the apex court on Thursday directed the board to pay Rs 550 crore with 18 per cent interest. This comes to a whopping Rs 1,700 crore, a huge amount even for the richest cricket board.
The BCCI had moved Supreme Court, after having lost the arbitration. Now, the franchise says that if they are not taken back next season, they will file an appeal seeking stay on IPL 2018.
In 2011, when Shashank Manohar was the president of BCCI, the board had terminated the Kochi franchise, citing breach of franchise agreement and encashed bank guarantee of around Rs 153 crore. The franchise demanded the board to pay around Rs 350 crore as compensation, and after the BCCI refused to do so, KTK took the legal route. In 2015, a panel headed by former CJI RC Lahoti directed the BCCI to pay Rs 385 crore as damages, and also the bank-guarantee they had encashed. It came to Rs 540 crore in total, with 18 per cent annual penalty with effect from September 2011 till the date of realisation.
Since then, the IPL Governing Council during its various meetings had settled around an amount of Rs 850 crore, and held negotiations with the franchise, which was in no mood to relent. And on Thursday, the Supreme Court reinstated the arbitrator’s order, meaning the BCCI now has to pay the amount or allow the franchise back into the IPL.
Express understands that the owners of the franchise — a consortium — is ready to negotiate the amount with the BCCI, provided they reinstate the team back into the league from next year. The franchise is expecting a final settlement of around Rs 800 crore, provided the team is back and according to one of their owners, they are even ready to waive Rs 1,000 crore.
“We have put forward this offer only because it is a huge sum of public money, which can be used by the BCCI for betterment of the game. Our primary demand is to reinstate the team back in the IPL because we were penalised for no fault of ours. The franchise has a strong bond with cricket,” one of the franchise owners told Express after the verdict.
Even during the previous IPL Governing Council meeting, certain members had warned the CoA about the financial liabilities and asked them to settle the issue. After Thursday’s ruling, the BCCI now stands to pay the franchise nearly Rs 20 crore per month for close to seven years.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com