MUMBAI: It was in the last week of October that the BCCI for the first time put a figure on the minimum amount it would have to pay in damages for the termination of IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011. Having exhausted all legal avenues, the richest board in the world reckoned it stood at something over Rs 8.5 billion.
On Saturday, tucked within a report put out by Times of India that gave a a break-up of the kind of payments that BCCI could be looking to pay in the near future, was news that last week the Supreme Court of India appointed former Justice SN Variava as arbitrator between the Indian cricket board and another terminated IPL franchise – Sahara Pune Warriors. Former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran was the arbitrator earlier but had to recuse himself from the case after being appointed on the three-member panel comprising the Justice RM Lodha Committee, TOI revealed.
The arbitration involving Sahara Warriors will begin even as the board is busy with another IPL franchise-related arbitration with another sacked franchise, Deccan Chargers, the daily further reported.
The math suggests that should the Sahara group, which committed to pay a staggering $370 million for the Pune franchise in March 2010 as against the $333.33 million that the consortium that won the Kochi rights had committed, win its case, the payout would be proportionally higher. While in the case of Deccan Chronicle, which was among the eight original IPL team owners having won the Hyderabad franchise with a bid of $107 million in January 2008, the group will of course stand to gain much less.
But that is only the arbitration related payments that the BCCI will have to shell out over the next few years. There are other more immediate payments that are coming up in the near future, the break-up of all of which, as per TOI is as follows:
Rs 24.2 billion: All cases related to the Enforcement Directorate (with regards to the 2009 IPL in South Africa)
Rs 12.5 billion: Other legal cases and settlements including Kochi Tuskers
Rs 5.4 billion: Income Tax
Rs 6 billion: Service Tax
Rs 900 million: Sales Tax/MVAT
Rs 525.4 million: Fine slapped by the Competitions Commission of India.
In its report TOI noted the the break-up does NOT include the potential penalty that could be levied on individuals with regards to the cases pending with the Enforcement Directorate.
Not that any of this will make the mandarins running the show in the BCCI run for cover. There is the sale of the five-year IPL media rights to Star India for Rs 163.47 billion to shout about. There are also the media rights for the national team that will come up in the first half of 2018 which will further bulk up BCCI’s kitty.
All of which points to legal challenge rather than efforts at dispute resolution continuing to remain BCCI’s default operative principle in any and all cases.
