Arbitrator asks BCCI to pay Rs 4,800 crore to Deccan Chronicle Holdings

Apex cricket body given till September to pay up

Bombay High Court-appointed arbitrator, C K Thakkar, has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to pay by September a compensation of Rs 4,800 crore to Deccan Chronicle Holdings, the owner of the terminated Deccan Chargers franchise in IPL.

Deccan Chargers was one of the eight franchises in the cash-rich cricket league when it was started in 2008. Four years later, BCCI terminated Deccan Chargers’ agreement, saying the franchise failed to honour its payment obligations. 

Deccan Chronicle Holdings, the Hyderabad-based media company that acquired the franchise for $107 million in 2008, then approached the Bombay High Court, seeking an order restraining BCCI from taking any further step. The HC later appointed Thakkar as the arbitrator to settle the dispute. 

Deccan Chronicle had filed a claim of Rs 6,500 crore and termed the termination of agreement as illegal. The arbitrator has now awarded Rs 4,800 crore, including interest, to Deccan Chronicle. 

Dhir & Dhir Associates was representing the firm in the matter. “The arbitral tribunal has found that the termination was premature and illegal and accordingly passed an award in favour of Deccan chronicle,” said Maneesha Dhir, associate partner, Dhir & Dhir Associates. Deccan Chronicles Holdings was under insolvency till 2019 for failing to pay its lenders. However, Kolkata-based Srei Group’s Srei Multiple Asset Investment Trust had submitted a resolution plan for the company, which was accepted by the bankruptcy tribunal.