Madras High Court bench advises BCCI to file counter-petition against CSK

New Delhi: In an interesting turn of events in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing and betting scandal, a Madras High Court bench on Thursday refused to grant interim stay to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which challenged the Justice RM Lodha committee's recommendation to ban the IPL franchise for two years.

Hearing on the writ petition filed by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. (CSKCL), a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice TS Sivagnanam also recommended the two respondents in the case – the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and India Cements Ltd. (ICL) – to file counter and adjourned the case until September 23.

It's worth noting that the Lodha committee recommended suspension of CSK and another franchise, Rajasthan Royals after their respective team co-owners Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra were found guilty of their roles in the infamous betting and spot-fixing scandal in 2013.

However, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. (CSKCL) on August 17 filed a writ petition requesting the court to put an interim stay on the Lodha committee decision. Interestingly, CSKCL got the rights from ICL to the the Chennai-based franchise in a change of ownership which was also approved by the all-powerful Indian cricket board.

Besides, the bench also advised the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), which filed the original petition in the Bombay High Court in 2013, to file a counter as well within two weeks.

This latest development is expected to form the basis on how the IPL Working Group, which meets today evening in Kolkata, is going to approach the case regarding the fate of the two suspended franchises.

Earlier, it was reported that the Working Group is likely to present four options to the board so that the ninth edition of the lucrative T20 league can be conducted without compromising its brand value, and in all likelihood, to keep the competing teams to eight.