Bombay HC Upholds Rs 538 Crore Arbitral Award in Favour of Former IPL Franchise Against BCCI

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed the arbitration plea filed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) against an arbitral award in favour of Kochi Cricket Private Limited (KCPL) and Rendezvous Sports World (RSW).

The arbitral tribunal awarded over Rs 384.8 crore to KCPL for loss of profits and ordered the return of over Rs 153.3 crore to RSW for wrongful encashment of the bank guarantee, along with interest and costs, totalling Rs 538 crore in favour of the now-defunct Indian Premier League franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

RSW was declared the successful bidder for the IPL franchise to be based in Kochi and entered into an Unincorporated Integrated Joint Venture Agreement on March 17, 2010.

“This Court, exercising jurisdiction under Section 34 of the Arbitration Act, cannot act as a Court of First Appeal,” said the Bombay High Court while dismissing BCCI’s plea challenging the arbitral award.

"Thus, it is not open for this Court to revisit the findings of facts arrived at by the Arbitral Tribunal after the appreciation of evidence and documents on record or to interfere with the Award on the ground that the terms of the contract were not correctly interpreted by the learned Arbitrator.”

The matter stemmed from the termination of the KCPL Agreement, which the KCPL alleged was wrongful.

The KCPL invoked arbitration against BCCI under the dispute resolution clause of the KCPL Agreement.

The parties were the recipients of an arbitral award in favour of the claim made against BCCI, which was challenged before the High Court under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

BCCI has six weeks to challenge the judgment before the division bench of the High Court or the Supreme Court.