Delhi High Court Stays Decision Of Apex Council Which Altered Result Of 'Legends League' Cricket Match After Being Declared
The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Sachin Datta, while hearing a Section 9 petition under the A&C Act, has granted interim relief to the petitioner by staying the communication of Event Technical Committee (ETC) and the Apex Council which allowed the result of a cricket match to be altered after the result has been announced.
Factual Overview:
The petitioner is a Konark Surya Orissa franchise holder, and the team was participating in a professional cricket league named “Legend League Cricket.” Respondent no. 1, Absolute Legend Sports Pvt. Ltd. (league owner), is the cricket league's owner and organiser. The respondent no. 2 is one of the participating teams in the league. A franchise agreement dated 05 September 2022 was entered between the league owner and the former franchise owner (now represented by the petitioner). Clause 17 of the agreement contained a dispute resolution clause; Clause 17.2 gave the rights to the party to seek interim relief under Section 9 of the A&C Act, even before the mandatory negotiation under Clause 17.1.
A cricket match was played between the petitioner's franchise team and respondent No. 2 on 20 September 2024. The petitioner's team was declared the winner, with the official scorecard reflecting a final score of 104/9 against respondent no.2's team's score of 102/8. The match officials confirmed the result of the match. On 21 September 2024, respondent No. 2 submitted a letter to the official of the cricket league alleging a scoring error in the match concluded on 20 September 2024.
It was submitted that the respondent no.2's score had been inaccurately recorded as 102/8 instead of 104/8. The alleged was stated to have occurred during the 11th over of the match, where eight runs were reportedly scored. However, the official scorecard failed to record two of those runs from that over. While replying to the respondent's letter, the petitioner stated that the result of the match had already been declared.
The issue referred to the ETC to determine the correct state of affairs and reach a conclusion. The ETC treated the case as an exception and declared the match a tie by changing the score. The petitioner was awarded two points as the winner of the match.
However, after the ETC's decision, the points were shared between the petitioner and respondent no.2. The ETC also acknowledged that the decision was taken regardless of the rules.
The petitioner approached the Apex Council of the Legend League Cricket, which comprised four members, out of which two were part of the ETC. The Apex Council, vide communication dated 05 October 2024, upheld the ruling of the ETC and referred to its decision as being in the spirit of fair play.
Being aggrieved with the decision of the ETC and the Apex Council, the petitioner approached the High Court of Delhi under Section 9 of the A&C Act, seeking urgent relief.
Submissions:
The petitioner made the following submissions:
- The “commitment to fair play” being invoked to alter the match's result cannot justify disregarding the relevant rules.
- The mandatory requirement of having five members in the Apex Council was not satisfied, as there were only four members. Furthermore, the petitioner was not allowed to present its case fairly.
Analysis of the Court:
The bench observed that Rule 16.9 of the Legend League Cricket Playing Conditions explicitly states that the result of a match after being declared after the match cannot be changed. A live match is highly dynamic, with the circumstances changing rapidly from moment to moment. This presents a unique challenge to the team, whether defending or chasing a target.
The strategies are to be made adaptive to the conditions reflected in the official scoreboard. The teams and players must adapt their play in real time based on the score, as reflected in the scoreboard. The act of altering the match's outcome retrospectively, under the guise of correcting a scoring error, is entirely inconsistent with the nature of the game.
The communication made by the ETC and the Apex Council concedes that the change of match result is not in consonance with the rules. In order to uphold "the spirit of the game," the ETC and the Apex Council departed from the rules, but in reality, such decisions undermine the very spirit.
A stay was imposed by the bench on the communications from the Apex Council dated October 5, 2024, and the ETC dated September 23, 2024. The bench also ordered that the points tally be calculated appropriately and that matches be scheduled following the said tally. The case is now listed on October 15, 2024.
Case Title: Mriksha Corporation Pvt Ltd v. Absolute Legends Sports Pvt Ltd & Anr.
Case Number: O.M.P. (I) (COMM) 357/2024
Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr Rishi Awasthi, Mr Piyush Vatla, Mr Avinash Ankit, Mr Rahul Raj Mishra and Mr Rahul Kumar Gupta, Advocates.