Deccan Chargers move SC against boot from IPL

Indian Premier League team Deccan Chargers has gone to the Supreme Court challenging a Bombay High Court order issued on Thursday refusing to set aside an order passed by an arbitrator that it would cease to be a member of the IPL, as decided by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI).

The appeal to the high court by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, a primarily newspaper group that owns the IPL team, was its latest bid to save its IPL after the BCCI order terminating its membership due to its inability to pay requisite amounts.

The high court however said the order was temporary and BCCI would have to file a rejoinder by 1 November. The court will examine the legality and validity of the termination at a hearing on 29 November, it said. The termination would stand until that date. Meanwhile, BCCI can go ahead with seeking bids for a replacement team, the court ruled.

Backed by its lenders, DCHL had sought a reprieve for the team on Wednesday after having failed last week to furnish a Rs100-crore bank guarantee, one of BCCI's conditions for stopping the termination.

The court had rejected DCHL's plea for a further extension on the 12 October deadline for furnishing the bank guarantee. It had ordered the company to submit the bank guarantee by 5:00 pm that day, failing which the decision by BCCI terminating the team would stand. The company failed to meet that deadline.

The matter has become more convoluted as the debt-ridden DCHL said last week it had found a buyer for the Deccan Chargers in Kamla Landmarc Real Estate Holdings Pvt Ltd, subject to shareholder and other approvals. But the BCCI has stood firm on its ouster of the team from the IPL.