TIL Desk Sports/ The Supreme Court on Monday refused to direct the Board of Control for Cricket in India to conduct e-auctioning for awarding the media rights of the next five seasons of the Indian Premier League.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chadrachud did not consider the plea of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy that the ongoing tendering process for awarding media rights for the IPL events be stayed and e-auctioning directed. The 11th edition of the IPL is scheduled to start in April next year.
Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appearing for the Committee of Administrators (COA), said that the ongoing tender process is a better option as all the bidders put their best bid in a sealed envelope to get the media rights.
Swamy, however, said he wanted to file an interim application highlighting alleged collusion and conflict of interest on behalf of a BCCI funtionary who also runs a news channel. This plea was allowed by the top court. The apex court had earlier asked COA chief Vinod Rai to file an affidavit specifying how the ongoing tender process is better than the e-auction.
