The Indian Premier League is slated to have two new franchises from next season, in place of the suspended CSK & RR.
The IPL Governing Council took the decision in Kolkata on Thursday, based on the recommendations of the Working Group constituted by the BCCI to work on the verdict of the Lodha panel.
The tender for the franchises would be floated after the AGM, to be scheduled at the BCCI working committee meet in Kolkata on Friday.
The move came even as the Madras HC sought a reply from all respondents, following a plea by CSK.
With the Madras High Court not granting an interim relief to Chennai Super Kings on its appeal for a stay on the Lodha Committee recommendations earlier in the day, the IPL Governing Council went ahead with the meeting in Kolkata and took up the report of the Working Group given earlier this month.
The other option the Working Group had offered was running CSK and Rajasthan Royals (RR) under a new management.
“The IPL GC deliberated on the Working Group’s recommendations and felt that floating of tenders for two new franchises was the best option under the circumstances,” said a Governing Council member after the meeting ended late on Thursday evening.
“The IPL would become a 10-team event once the two banned franchises return from suspension in 2018. The final decision now rests with the BCCI Working Committee,” he added.
Laying out the modalities, the GC suggested that the players of the banned franchises be put on auction. If required a fresh auction may be called to accommodate the players in the existing and the new franchises.
Earlier the Madras High Court directed all respondents including the BCCI to submit a comprehensive reply in two weeks on a petition filed by CSK seeking a stay on the order of the Lodha Committee suspending it for two years from the IPL. The CSK had sought permission for the team to play in IPL matches.
The first Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam directed the BCCI, Cricket Association of Bihar and India Cements to file the reply.
The merits of the case and maintainability of the petition will be gone into on September 23.
The Lodha Committee, while suspending CSK, refused to accept the argument that the act of Gurunath Meiyappan, team official, indicted for betting in IPL 2013 was personal and that the franchise could thus not be held responsible.
The petitioner argued that neither the CSK management nor its players were found guilty of betting or match-fixing. Mr. Meiyappan never had shares in India Cements, nor was he in the management of the company, the petition contended.
It argued that the Lodha Committee’s order went against the fundamental principles of natural justice and fair hearing, non-compliance of which was evident from a finding of the committee that the only task left to it was imposition of appropriate punishment on the franchise without going into the charges or the offence committed.
Subsequently, the Madras High Court issued notice to the BCCI and India Cements on the petition. It also allowed Cricket Association of Bihar, on whose plea the Supreme Court had directed probe into the IPL-6 betting and spot fixing scandal, to implead in the case.
