da brwin： The decision of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to awarda contract to International Management Group and TransworldInternational Combine (IMG-TWI) towards team clothing sponsorship forInternational matches to be played in India or
30-May-2001The decision of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to awarda contract to International Management Group and TransworldInternational Combine (IMG-TWI) towards team clothing sponsorship forInternational matches to be played in India or outside over the nextthree years from July 1 was on Wednesday challenged in the Mumbai HighCourt by Gayatri Arts.Gayatri Arts, a Mumbai-based company, filed a petition seeking aninjunction from the High Court on the BCCI for signing the contractwith IMG-TWI or any other group. It will come up for hearing on June1.According to Sham Dhumatkar, proprietor of Gayatri Arts, the threeyear contract was awarded to his company which had made the highestbid of Rs 90 crores through a legal tender advertised by the BCCI in anewspaper.The BCCI confirmed the contract in a letter to Gayatri Arts on May 3and gave 48 hours to the company to accept the offer. Accordingly,Gayatri Arts accepted the contract in a letter to the BCCI, thepetition submitted.On May 22, however, the BCCI’s marketing committee held a secondmeeting in New Delhi where the contract awarded to Gayatri Arts wasresiled and instead awarded to IMG-TWI after an open bidding andrevelation of prices.The petition alleged that the contract was complete with the BCCIwriting a letter to Gayatri Arts and the latter accepting the offer.Therefore, it was illegal on the part of the BCCI to renegotiate thecontract with others by keeping Gayatri Arts in the dark, the petitioncontended.The petition alleged that the BCCI was not transparent and did notrelease facts and figures to the general public and the media.Through its solicitors, Gayatri Arts had earlier sent a legal noticeto the BCCI asking for a list of tenders received before April 20 andletters of offer received before the second marketing committeemeeting of May 22 with the names and bid amounts.