Rajasthan Royals moves HC against BCCI

Rajasthan Royals filed on Monday an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for suspending it from the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rajasthan Royals’ franchise agreement was terminated by BCCI on October 10 after the Board alleged irregularities in the franchise.

A statement issued by Rajasthan Royals’ executives said: “We have tried to meet with the BCCI to understand the basis for the termination, which was received without notice. We do not understand what we have done wrong. It is, therefore, our duty to IPL fans, our employees, our players and our partners to pursue the matter. The matter is expected to be listed this Wednesday. We would not like to state anything further, since it is sub judice,” the statement said.

When contacted, BCCI's Chief Administration Officer Ratnakar Shetty refused to comment on the issue.

Rajasthan Royals, along with Kings XI Punjab, was expelled from the IPL for alleged violations of rules. After the Board had decided to terminate the contract of Rajasthan Royals, BCCI President Shashank Manohar said: “They had a different bidder during auctions. The agreement was entered in the name of a different company. The shareholding patterns were different and, then, the shares were transferred to different people without the permission of the governing council.”

The Rajasthan Royals franchise is owned by Emerging Media group and is chaired by Manoj Badale. Other investors include Lachlan Murdoch, Aditya S Chellaram and Suresh Chellaram. The franchise was acquired in 2008 for $67 million (nearly Rs 300 crore in today’s terms). Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra, had paid approximately $15.4 million (over Rs 68 crore today) for a stake of around 12 per cent in the franchise before the start of IPL 2 in early 2009.

Shetty tweeted: “The only change to ownership was the introduction of my husband Raj Kundra, for which we had full BCCI permission and support at the time. Allegation that our ownership has changed since 2008 is untrue.”

Suresh Chellaram is the brother-in-law of former IPL chairman, Lalit Modi. Earlier this month, after the expulsion of the franchises, Manohar had denied that the action to terminate the franchise agreements had anything to do with Modi’s connection with Rajasthan Royals.

Meanwhile, the IPL governing council will meet in Nagpur on Wednesday to discuss the future of the Kochi franchise.