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indiantelevision.com Team
MUMBAI: Harish Thawani?s Nimbus Communications suffered another setback as the apex court upheld the Bombay High Court?s order asking it to furnish Rs 3.05 billion bank guarantee in its dispute with the Indian cricket board.
The Bombay HC had in January asked Nimbus Communications to either deposit an amount of Rs 3.05 billion in the court or give a bank guarantee pending hearing of the dispute with BCCI in order to offset losses arising out of termination of contract.
The court order came in response to BCCI‘s petition that it wanted to secure advertising revenue earned by Nimbus from the England and West Indies series as broadcast fee. Nimbus, which held the BCCI broadcast rights, had sub-licensed the rights to its sister concern Neo Sports Broadcast which operates Neo Cricket and Neo Sports.
The order was further upheld by a two-member bench of the HC directing Nimbus to furnish the bank guarantee within two weeks pending hearing of its dispute with BCCI.
Nimbus then filed a special leave petition with the Supreme Court which refused to entertain its plea. The three member bench comprising Justice Altamas Kabir, Justice Surinder Singh, and Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, while upholding the HC order, directed the court to dispose of the case within four weeks starting from the date of its order.
?Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner, we are not inclined to entertain the special leave petition, which is directed against an ad-interim order passed in a proceeding under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and the Notice of Motion, is still pending disposal,? the SC order read.
?Accordingly, while dismissing the special leave petition, we request the learned Single Judge of the High Court, before whom the matter is pending, to dispose of the Notice of Motion at the earliest and preferably within four weeks from the date of communication of this order."
The matter will now come up for hearing before the single bench judge who will come out with final decision in the case. ?Needless to say, the matter is to be decided by the learned Single Judge, without being influenced by the observations made while passing the ad-interim order,? the order added.
The BCCI had in December last year terminated broadcast rights contract with Nimbus Communications over default in payment and had planned to encash bank guarantee that Nimbus had furnished to secure the rights.
However, a clause in the contract which stated that the bank guarantee can be encashed only if the contract is in effect prevented the BCCI from encashing the guarantee amount.
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