Pak’s compensation claim against India rejected by ICC

The International Cricket Council’s Disputes Resolution Committee on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan Cricket Board’s compensation claim for India not honouring a bilateral agreement signed in 2014, ruling that its decision is ‘binding’ and ‘non-appealable’. PCB had claimed it had lost revenue worth $70 million with BCCI refusing to play two bilateral series — in November 2014 and December 2015 — after the agreement was signed in April 2014. These two series were to have a minimum of two Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is.

Pakistan were to be the hosts with the ICC even slotting the two series in its FTP, but the BCCI cited lack of permission from the Indian government to play against their arch-rivals.

As per the agreement signed between the two boards — at a time when BCCI was pushing for the Big Three agenda along with England and Australia — India and Pakistan were supposed to play seven bilateral series between 2014 and 2023.

“Following a three-day hearing and having considered detailed oral and written submissions, the Dispute Panel has dismissed the PCB’s claim against the BCCI,” the ICC stated.

“In the dispute panel’s view, the reasonable observer apprised of all the facts would conclude that the April Letter was no more than a declaration of intent, albeit an intent sincerely held by the BCCI (and of course by the PCB) at most, as Mr (Shashank) Manohar (President of the BCCI from October 2015 to May 2016) put it, creating a “moral obligation” but not a legal one,” it added.

“It follows inexorably that the PCB’s claim must fail. If there was no obligation on the BCCI to engage in the tours in either 2014 or 2015, its omission to do so was no breach and gave rise to no damages claim,” it said.

The judgement also touched upon the matter of Indian government’s clearance to BCCI.

“The Panel’s conclusion is that what varied was the readiness with which such approval for an Indian tour of Pakistan would or would not be granted, which itself, was a reflection of the state of relations between the two governments and peoples, informed by security and political considerations rather than whether there was any need for such approval in the first place,” the judgement read.

The hearings took place between October 1-3 in Dubai after the PCB had filed a ‘notice of dispute’ with the ICC in November 2017. BCCI was represented by Sanjay Patel (former secretary who signed the letter with PCB), ex-IPL COO Sundar Raman, Ratnakar Shetty (former BCCI GM Administration), Shashank Manohar (former BCCI president) and former Congress minister Salman Khurshid.

A three-member Dispute Panel ‘formed under terms of reference to the ICC Disputes Resolutions Committee (DRC) in April consisted Michael Beloff as chairperson with Jan Paulsson and Dr Annabelle Bennett as the other members. The BCCI later issued a statement saying it would recover the legal costs from PCB.

If there was no obligation on the BCCI to engage in the tours ...its omission to do so was no breach and gave rise to no damages claim. ICC’S DISPUTE PANEL