HC dismisses plea of Gayatri Arts

In a significant order, the Mumbai high court on Thursday declined to stay the contract awarded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to International Management Group towards clothing sponsorship of the Indian cricket team for international matches in the next three years.

The order was delivered by Justice D K Deshmukh, who dismissed a notice of motion by Gayatri Arts in a suit filed by the company against the BCCI for awarding the contract to IMG.

Gayatri Arts claimed it had made the highest bid of Rs 90 crore [900 million] and the BCCI had issued a letter asking them to confirm the offer which was accepted in a reply sent to it. The plaintiff claimed the BCCI's letter constituted a concluded contract between the two.

The court, however, was of the view that prima facie it could not be said there was a concluded contract between the plaintiff and the BCCI.

On June 13, Justices B N Srikrishna and Nishita Mhatre had disposed of an appeal filed by Sham Dhumatkar, proprietor of Gayatri Arts, challenging the order of Justice D K Deshmukh, who earlier refused to stay the contract to the IMG-TWI combine.

The bench had refused to stay the contract awarded to IMG and its subsidary Transworld International. But the judges gave liberty to the appellant to move a notice of motion for staying the contract before Justice D K Deshmukh, who had earlier rejected a similar plea.

The bench had also directed the single judge to dispose of the notice of motion before July 1, when the new contract would come into force.

Gayatri Arts had challenged the BCCI's decision to award the contract to the IMG-TWI combine by way of a petition in the high court. The company claimed it had made the highest bid of Rs 90 crore [900 million] through a legal tender advertised by the BCCI in a newspaper. Yet, the contract was awarded to the IMG-TWI combine.

Justice Deshmukh, hearing the petition filed by Gayatri Arts, had, in an ad-interim order, refused to stay BCCI's decision of awarding the contract to the IMG-TWI combine.

Being aggrieved, Gayatri Arts filed an appeal contending through its lawyer, Janak Dwarkadas, that the Judge had failed to take cognizance of the bid made by Gayatri Arts, which was higher than the one put up by the IMG-TWI combine.

Gayatri Arts submitted that the BCCI had confirmed the contract in a letter on May 3 and gave 48 hours notice to accept the offer. Accordingly, Gayatri Arts accepted the contract offer in a letter to the BCCI, the court was told.

On May 22, however, BCCI's marketing committee held a second meeting in New Delhi, where the contract awarded to Gayatri Arts was resiled and instead awarded to the IMG-TWI combine after an open bidding and revelation of prices.

Gayatri Arts claimed the contract was complete after the BCCI wrote a letter to them making the offer of contract and the company accepting it in writing. The BCCI said its communication was not a confirmation letter of contract but mere ''query".

The BCCI claimed the offer made by IMG was not only for clothing sponsorship but also for non-leading arm and trophy title as well. BCCI said not only was the offer of IMG higher but also it was justified in deciding that it will deal with one sponsor instead of three different ones.

Mail Cricket Editor