A big loss to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was incurred since the Bombay High Court affirmed an arbitral award of over 538 crores to a former Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Kochi Tuskers Kerala. The verdict issued on Tuesday (17 June) will be in a protracted dispute over the termination of the team with immediate effect in the Indian Premier League fourteen years ago. The challenge to the award by BCCI was thrown out by a single-judge bench of Justice R.I. Chagla, who held that a court could not reconsider the findings of an arbitral tribunal.
In a setback to the BCCI, the Bombay High Court on June 17 upheld arbitral awards of over ₹538 crores in favour of the owners of the now defunct Indian Premier League team, Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
Kochi Tuskers, which participated in the 2011 IPL season, was terminated by the… pic.twitter.com/RmnCUaiyDQ---Advertisement---— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) June 18, 2025
“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,” the court observed.
“The arbitrator’s conclusion that the BCCI’s termination of the Kochi franchise was a repudiatory breach of contract would call for no interference… this is based on a correct appreciation of the evidence on record.”
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What Was The Reason?
Kochi was given the IPL franchise in 2010 at a price of 1550 crores to be paid at an annual rate of 10 years. However, the team did not last long enough and only played one season in 2011 which was operated by KCPL having one consortium led by RSW. It consisted of Anchor Earth Pvt. Ltd. (31.45 %), Parinee Developers Pvt. Ltd. (30.27 %), Rendezvous Sports World (10 %), Anand Shyam Estates (9.31 %) and Vivek Venugopal (5 %).
In 2011, the franchise did not provide a renewed bank guarantee of 10 percent of about 156 crores of the next season owing to internal bickering on the ownership part due to the fear of venue availability and also due to delays by the regulators. On one hand, by the use of an existing 153 crore guarantee, BCCI insisted on a new six-months guarantee.
In 2015, a tribunal headed by the then chief justice of India R.C. Lahoti former Supreme Court of India found in favour of the franchise and awarded 384 crore rupees (million) to KCPL in damages caused by the loss of profits as well as directing BCCI to pay 153 crore rupees (million) to RSW as cost of loss with interest. BCCI moved the Bombay High Court challenging the award on the basis that the tribunal had gone beyond its jurisdiction and had granted a very high amount of damages, which was not within the limits agreed in the contract. It also doubted the place of RSW under the Partnership Act.
In 2018, the Kochi franchise moved the High Court to the Supreme Court, which ordered the BCCI to deposit 100 crore INR in advance that ensure that the stay is continued.
