IPL: BCCI wins legal battle worth over Rs 4800 crore against Deccan Chargers

In a major relief to the BCCI, the Bombay High Court bench of Justice G S Patel set aside an arbitrator's order that directed it to pay over Rs 4800 crore to Deccan Chronicle Holding Ltd regarding dispute for termination of IPL team.

In what comes as a major boost for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it has won a legal battle against Deccan Chronicle Holdings (DCHL) as the Bombay High Court has decided in favour of the Indian board.

A single-bench presided over by Justice Gautam Patel "set aside" the award that had been passed in July last year by a sole arbitrator appointed by the high court to ascertain if the termination of the franchise during the fifth IPL season in 2012 was illegal.

Speaking to ANI, a BCCI official in the know of developments said it was a welcome decision.

"We are extremely happy with the development. It has vindicated our position as we had always followed what was in the agreement," the official said.

To go back to the case, the IPL Governing Council had terminated Deccan Chargers in 2012 and the franchise had challenged the termination.

They had approached the Bombay HC and the process of arbitration started with Justice (retd) C.K. Thakar as the sole arbitrator and BCCI was ordered to shell out Rs 4814.67 crore to DCHL in July 2020. This after DCHL had claimed damages of Rs 6046 crore plus interest and charges as per reports.

While reacting to the development back in July 2020, a BCCI official had made it clear that an appeal was on the cards as the board strongly believed it had a very good case.