After waiting for over 13 years, the Kochi Tuskers Kerala have finally won their legal battle against the BCCI. In the BCCI vs. Kochi Tuskers Kerala court case, the Bombay High Court ruled in favor of the team and ordered the BCCI to pay ₹538.84 crore. Out of this, ₹385.50 crore will go to Kochi Cricket Private Limited (KCPL), and ₹153.34 crore will be given to Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), the team’s co-owners.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala only played one IPL season, back in 2011. They didn’t have a great season and finished eighth out of ten teams. But the real trouble began after the tournament ended. The BCCI ended their contract, saying the team failed to give a bank guarantee on time, a required part of their agreement.
The team owners didn’t agree with this and decided to fight back legally. In 2015, an arbitrator ruled that BCCI had ended the contract unfairly and had broken the terms. But BCCI refused to accept that result and challenged it in the Bombay High Court.
Now, in 2024, the High Court has said the arbitrator was right. Justice Riyaz I. Chagla explained that courts can’t change an arbitrator’s decision unless there’s a strong legal reason, and in this case, there wasn’t one. He also said that BCCI was wrong to call in the bank guarantee and that it was a breach of the contract.
Interestingly, after winning the arbitration in 2015, the Kochi owners had asked to rejoin the IPL. But BCCI turned down that request. Even now, it’s unclear if the team will ever return to the league. As of now, BCCI has six weeks to file an appeal. Whether they will do that or not is still unknown.
In the end, the BCCI vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala court case is not just about money. It’s about standing up for what’s right. Kochi Tuskers may not have lifted a trophy on the field, but they never gave up their fight. And after all these years, they’ve finally been heard not in a stadium, but in a courtroom.
