Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Sep 28, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Sep 28, 2004 |
||
|
|
||
|
Home Page
-
Courts/Legal Issues Corporate - Corporate Disputes Variety - Sports Cancellation of telecast rights — Constitution Bench to hear Zee's plea from today Our Bureau
New Delhi , Sept. 27 THE three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, today referred the petition filed by Zee Telefilms challenging the cancellation of the telecast rights and re-opening the bidding process by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to a five-judge Constitution Bench. Mr Justice Hegde said that the Bench would request the Chief Justice to refer the case to a higher Bench as the petition filed by Zee raised constitutional issues. The broadcaster, in its petition, has alleged that BCCI is inter-alia recognised by the Government of India as the Regulatory Authority for the game of cricket in India and that it is performing one of the most important public functions for the country with the authorisation and recognition by the Government of India. The Court also issued notices to all the parties including the Government of India, ESPN-Star Sports and PricewaterhouseCoopers and asked them to be prepared to resume arguments from Tuesday. Counsel for Zee, Mr Harish Salve, today said that the broadcasting company was only challenging the cancellation of the contract, which is mala fide and illegal. He contended that Zee Telefilms had emerged as the highest bidder at $308 million for the telecast rights and has already paid the BCCI $20 million. He alleged that the BCCI had entered into a long and arduous negotiation process (with ESPN Software) contrary to the guidelines issued by the Central Vigilance Commission, which barred negotiations except with the highest bidder. According to Mr Salve, the BCCI in its affidavit had clearly said that both Zee and ESPN Software were eligible to bid for the rights. It also alleged that there was collusion between the sports broadcaster ESPN-Star Sports and the BCCI, which led to the cancellation of the contract on September 21.
More Stories on : Courts/Legal Issues | Corporate Disputes | Sports
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|