A PIL in Madras high court has said that the, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) who hold right to 21% of gross revenue of International Cricket Council (ICC) for the broadcast cycle of 2015-2023, will eventually end up receiving at least 1,000 crore less.
According to reports, BCCI chief Shashank Manohar’s unilateral offer to take 6% cut in revenue sharing model.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice S Vaidyanathan, passed the interim orders on Monday.
While at the same time they gave time to the legal petitioner’s senior counsel till Wednesday to get instructions on withdrawing the IPL.
The PIL is filled by ex-CBI director R K Raghavan and eight others, and called this as “nothing short of a scam”.
The present PIL, which had eight others including umpire C R Vijayaraghavan and player D Vasu as signatories, said: “It remains a mystery as to how the BCCI chief Shashank Manohar could on his own propose such a monumental reduction in the BCCI’s revenue from ICC funds guaranteed by contract, and get authorized to negotiate downward revision with other ICC members, as if there is some imminent threat to the fortunes of BCCI.”
The PIL mentioned that the BCCI cannot get away any longer by saying that it is a private club with private members, who can act in any manner they like, leaving no room for judicial scrutiny of their whimsical and fanciful conduct.
They wanted the court to restrain BCCI from agreeing to receive any amount lower than the agreed contribution costs as per the member participation agreement for the broadcast cycle for the periods 2015-2023 and 2024-2031, for the participation of Indian cricket team in matches/events conducted by the ICC, Unless judicially restrained, BCCI bosses might make commitments even ahead of the ICC meeting scheduled to be held this month, it said.
