The Bombay High Court today refused to grant further time to Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd to give an irrevocable and unconditional bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore to BCCI regarding IPL franchise Deccan Chargers.
DCHL urged Justice S.J. Kathawala to grant them time till October 15 to furnish the bank guarantee but the court refused saying the earlier deadline had been extended by three days to accommodate them and further time cannot be given.
Meanwhile, the deadline for DCHL to furnish the bank guarantee ended today.
If DCHL does not give bank guarantee by 5 p.m. this evening, BCCI would be free to take action, if it so desires, on its earlier decision to terminate the IPL contract of the cash-strapped Hyderabad franchise.
The court, on October 1, had asked DCHL to give the bank guarantee which would be in force for a period of one year.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India had in September taken the decision to terminate the contract after an emergency IPL Governing Council meeting in Chennai.
The court had earlier ordered that DCHL shall bear all expenses for IPL series-6 including making payments to BCCI towards franchise, players and support team costs. Besides, DCHL shall also bear the costs of conducting matches and other expenses, the judge had ruled.
In the event of any default on part of DCHL, BCCI shall be entitled to invoke the bank guarantee to the extent necessary, Justice Kathawala said.
The court had on September 26 appointed retired Supreme Court judge C.K. Thakkar as arbitrator to resolve within three months the dispute between BCCI and DCHL over the termination of Deccan Chargers franchise.
However, pending arbitration proceedings and making up of an award by the arbitrator, the judge asked the BCCI not to act on the termination of the franchise agreement for a period of seven days, if the award is in their favour.
The judge clarified that this order would immediately cease to be in effect if DCHL fails to furnish the bank guarantee.