Mumbai:
Actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra, pulled up in a Bentley this afternoon to the Bombay High Court. Kundra, who co-owns the Rajasthan Royals, has challenged the team's expulsion from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Along with Punjab Kings XI, co-owned by actor Preity Zinta, the Rajasthan Royals were dropped from the IPL three weeks ago, allegedly because both teams changed the structure of ownership without informing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which is the parent body of the IPL. There are currently eight teams in the IPL including Kochi which has been served 30 days' notice.
The Royals' case was adjourned to Friday.
In court, the team-owners argued that they have not got any response so far to their request to the BCCI to mediate their dispute with the IPL. Lawyers for the Royals argued, "Nobody wants to fight but you can't throw us out like this." They also said, "Let us renew the contracts for those players whose contracts are expiring."
After the hearing, Shetty tweeted, "Shot in a fake courtroom set, Never been to a "real" Court b4, it felt so strange! RR case today, adjourned till Friday:)pl pray,they alwys work."
The Kochi franchise of the IPL, which is also in trouble with the BCCI, was today served a termination notice, but has been given 30 days' notice to respond. The Royals and the Punjab franchises had earlier argued that it was unfair to sack their teams without any notice period.
Asked about this today, BCCI president Shashan Manohar said that the Kochi case was different because there was "No transfer of control...no other breach...other than infighting." The six co-owners of the Kochi franchise are warring over equity and who should control the franchise.