The Bombay High Court has directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to pay significant compensation to Kochi Cricket Private Limited (KCPL) and Rendezvous Sports World (RSW) following the termination of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala IPL franchise. According to the court’s ruling, BCCI must pay INR 385.50 crore to KCPL and INR 153.34 crore to RSW, as it upheld the arbitral awards that were issued in 2015.
The Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise participated in just one edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2011. The team, jointly owned by KCPL and RSW, finished eighth in a ten-team tournament. Later that year, in September 2011, the BCCI terminated their agreement, citing a breach of contract. The BCCI claimed the franchise failed to provide a mandatory bank guarantee within the required timeframe. This led to a legal battle that eventually moved into arbitration.
Justice Riyaz I. Chagla, while delivering the judgment, dismissed BCCI’s plea against the arbitral awards. He clarified that the court’s scope of review under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act is limited and does not allow a re-examination of the case’s merits. Justice Chagla stated that BCCI's dissatisfaction with how the arbitrator interpreted the evidence could not be used as grounds to challenge the award.
“Section 34 of the Arbitration Act is very limited. BCCI's endeavour to delve into the merits of the dispute is in teeth of the scope of the grounds contained in Section 34 of the Act. BCCI's dissatisfaction as to the findings rendered in respect of the evidence and/or the merits cannot be a ground to assail the Award,” Justice Riyaz I. Chagla said.
“The conclusion of the learned Arbitrator, namely that BCCI had wrongfully invoked the bank guarantee, which amounted to a repudiatory breach of the KCPL-FA, would call for no interference under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act, considering that this is based on a correct appreciation of the evidence on record,” he added.
The court’s ruling marks a significant development in a case that has spanned more than a decade. BCCI, however, has been granted a six-week window to challenge the decision and file an appeal.
