IPL news

Supreme Court dismisses appeal, Chargers out of IPL

Cricket +

	The development means the Chargers are now completely out of the IPL © Associated Press  Enlarge

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Deccan Chargers' plea to put a stay on the Bombay High Court order which upheld the BCCI termination of the franchise from the IPL.* The chief justice of India, Altamas Kabir, heard the case but refused to grant a stay to the franchise owners, who approached the apex court immediately after the Bombay High Court yesterday overruled the arbitrator's order to put a stay on the expulsion.

The development means the Chargers are now completely out of the IPL. The only way they can now make a comeback is if the Bombay High Court-appointed arbitrator CJ Thakkar finds the grounds of the termination were not correct .

The BCCI had terminated the franchise after it had failed to meet the deadline stipulated to raise the Rs 100-crore bank guarantee ($19 million). The Chargers immediately approached Thakkar, who put a stay on the termination order passed by the High Court. However, it was quashed on Thursday by Justice RD Dhanuka.

"The arbitrator had no jurisdiction to grant a status quo," Justice Dhanuka said. "On the same day (October 12), the high court had denied extension of time to DCHL to furnish Rs 100 crore bank guarantee as directed by the court on October 1."

Meanwhile, the BCCI floated a tender on October 14, inviting bidders for a new IPL team following the termination of the Chargers franchise. The bids were invited for 12 cities, including Hyderabad where the Chargers were based. The others are Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Indore, Kanpur, Kochi, Nagpur, Noida, Rajkot, Ranchi and Vizag.

The BCCI will be keen on finalising a new, ninth team before the next edition of the IPL in 2013, as it will, otherwise, result in reduced franchise fees and TV rights payments. Following a ten-team IPL in 2011, the Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise was terminated last year in September. Two other franchises - Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals - are still involved in litigation with the BCCI, and the IPL is on the lookout for a new title sponsor after DLF Ltd ended its five-year association with the tournament.