The Hindu : National : `BCCI had no option but to cancel tender process'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 19, 2005

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National

`BCCI had no option but to cancel tender process'

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB. 18. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the extreme step of cancelling the entire tender process for awarding telecast rights only when faced with the prospect of a walkout by the Australian team and being blacklisted by the International Cricket Council, the Madras High Court was told today.

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the BCCI, said: "Had we not cancelled the process, the Aussies would have walked out of the series, and the ICC would have blacklisted the BCCI. We had advertisement commitments to meet and required time to finalise sponsorship issues. Even arguments on the ESPN's writ petition against the BCCI had not commenced before the Bombay High Court. It was under these circumstances the decision to cancel the tender process was taken."

With barely 20 days to go for the Aussie series to start, as per the original agreement, two plane loads of telecast equipment were required to be imported, and sponsorship and advertisement issues needed to be finalised. All these factors put the BCCI against the wall, and in order to save the series and in the larger interest of the game, the process had to be cancelled, Mr. Venugopal said. He said a similar situation had arisen now, with only 23 days remaining for the Pakistan series to start.

`ZTL not qualified'

Maintaining that ZTL did not fulfil all the pre-qualification norms laid down in the tender conditions, the senior counsel said the ZTL should have been the last person to come to court claiming certain legal rights to be enforced.

Merely having a channel network was not sufficient to take part in the tender process, Mr. Venugopal said. Only those having their own in-house production facilities and with at least two-years experience in telecasting international sporting events were entitled to submit offers. The ZTL neither had in-house production facilities nor its own team of commentators.

According to him, the pact between the BCCI and the ZTL was only an "in-principle agreement and not a concluded contract." Pointing out that senior counsel for the ZTL, Harish Salve, had "expressly given up the case of concluded contract," Mr. Venugopal said the very foundation of the ZTL case had been abandoned and the petition was not maintainable.

"Realising that theirs was not a concluded contract and they had no legally enforceable right, now they have changed their stand and say the September 21 order of the BCCI, cancelling the entire tender process, should be set aside. What will be the effect of the setting aside of the order? Can the ZTL be granted telecast rights then," asked Mr. Venugopal.

Reserved rights

The BCCI had reserved its right either to initiate negotiations or to cancel the tender process without assigning any reason to anybody, the senior counsel said, adding that the tender conditions empowered the BCCI to call even the second highest bidder for negotiations. "It is wrong to call the ZTL the highest bidder. It was at the top during the initial period. During negotiations, it was the ESPN which topped bidders."

The lawyer said the Chief Vigilance Commissioner circular banning post-tender negotiations with the second highest bidder was not applicable to the present case, and added, "facts and documents speak for themselves. What I did was totally fair and correct."

Arguments will continue before Justice K.P. Sivasubramaniam on Monday.

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