CSK parent company not a recognised franchise owner: BCCI

CSK Cricket Limited (CSKCL), the trust that now owns CSK, had filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court in August against the RM Lodha committee’s decision. The company argued for revoking of CSK’s suspension citing that the Lodha committee did not offer them a chance of a hearing, reported the Times of India (ToI).

BCCI’s senior counsel AL Somayaji argued on Monday that nowhere, either before the Supreme Court or before the Lodha Committee, had India Cements taken a stand that it was no more an owner of the IPL franchise, reported ToI.

With the court offering a chance to all the aggrieved parties to work out the solution, Somayaji said CSK Cricket Limited was not an aggrieved party. "Therefore, at the behest of the CSK Cricket Limited, the high court should not go into the validity of punishment imposed by the Lodha Committee," he argued.

Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), whose complaints initiated criminal proceedings against the franchises, argued “that writ petition of CSK Cricket Limited was not at all maintainable”, reported ToI.

CSKCL represented by senior counsel Dushyant Dave said that the company had stepped into the shoes of India Cements and added that the question of impleading Lodha Committee did not arise, as it functioned on behalf of the BCCI, reported ToI.