It is a clear cut attempt by a group of individuals to interfere in the day-to-day activities of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Madras High Court on Monday said in response to a public interest litigation petition moved by former IPS officer R.K. Raghavan and seven others.
The First Bench of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice S. Vaidyanathan made the observation on the petition moved by Mr. Raghavan and others, seeking to forbear the Chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI from agreeing to receive any amount lower than the agreed contribution – 21 percent revenue share – from the total revenue of ICC, which would be approximately Rs. 3,400 crore for the period 2015-2023.
Observing that such relief cannot be sought under a PIL petition as there was no public issue involved, the Bench suggested that the petitioners move a civil suit at the appropriate forum.
According to Mr. Raghavan, former Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), earlier there was an agreement between the members of ICC, which committed 75 per cent of revenue generated, after meeting the event costs, to the 10 full test playing members Board) equally and 25 per cent to the associated Members.
The petitioner added that it was only in the recent (2015-2013) cycle for broadcast of ICC events a set of changes was made by the ICC which gave India its rightful share. “There were compelling reasons to rework the sharing of the ICC revenue, such as the fact that 50 per cent of the population of India is equal to the population of all the full members of ICC, and the BCCI does not receive any financial help from the government unlike other members and the extent of cricket being played in India demanded more income to improve the infrastructure and develop the game,” the petition claimed.
Considering the facts, the ICC leadership decided to shell out 21 per cent of the total revenue to India for the fee cycle 2015–2023. A resolution was passed to this effect by the ICC on February 8, 2014. By this latest agreement, the BCCI would receive approximately Rs. 3,400 crore as its share for the fee cycle, the petitioner said. Mr. Raghavan alleged that he learnt that at a special general body meeting of the BCCI held on February 19, its member Shashank Manohar, who is also the ICC Chairman, obtained approval to re-negotiate a downward revision, a reduction of six per cent of the revenue share agreed to India .
PIL petition says reworking of deal would reduce revenue share to India
