The Bombay High Court today directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not to invite bids for an auction of the Indian Premier League’s Hyderabad cricket franchise until the final hearing of a related case on September 24.
The direction was given in response to a petition filed by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, the owner of the Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers cricket team, on Saturday last challenging the termination of the cash-strapped company’s cricket franchise by the BCCI.
Deccan Chronicle’s counsel told the court that the company had cleared a Rs 33 crore payment due to foreign and Indian players of the team on September 15. The payment was facilitated by Yes Bank Ltd.
In response to the BCCI’s 233-page affidavit submitted to the high court, Deccan Chargers’s senior advocate Zal T Andhyarujina said the newspaper publisher will also file an affidavit later this week.
A bench, headed by Justice S J Kathawala, also directed the Deccan Chargers team players not to encash their payment until the final hearing of the case. UNI