As reported first by SUNDAY MiD DAY, the arbitration proceedings have gone in favour of expelled Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals
As reported first by SUNDAY MiD DAY, the arbitration proceedings have gone in favour of expelled Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals. This means that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to overlook the termination notice it handed to the inaugural IPL champions on October 20, until January 10, 2011.
With the termination stayed for six weeks, it now means Royals are eligible to take part in the IPL players' auction on January 8-9. The copy of the stay order, which has been briefed to this correspondent by Royals officials, clearly states that BCCI will now have to treat Royals just like any of the other existing IPL franchises.
Also, it cannot change any of the league's rules.
Last Friday, the arbitrator who was appointed to resolve the dispute between BCCI and Royals, Justice BN Srikrishna, had filed papers pertaining the arbitration, a copy of which was to reach Royals on Monday. By then, most of the Royals camp was already celebrating but wanted to announce their win only after it was made official.
Royals' Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Raghu Iyer was delighted: "It is a victory for us. Now, we need to deploy our legal team (ledu00a0 by Harish Salve) to examine these papers better. There's still so much to do and understand. But this is a positive outcome."
"This verdict just proved that we were hard done by. Now, BCCI has been pushed to the back foot. We are so thrilled," one of the officials, said.
Meanwhile, BCCI President Shashank Manohar said: "I haven't seen the stay order yet. The BCCI will look to study the verdict, talk to its lawyers, and take the next step."
Royals moved the Bombay High Court late in October when BCCI terminated its IPL franchise contract alleging that the former changed its share-holding pattern without informing the Indian cricket board.
The arbitration hearing of Kings XI Punjab will begin today and will also be presided by Justice Srikrishna.
