New Delhi, June 18 -- In a major blow to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Bombay High Court has upheld an arbitral award of over Rs.538 crore in favour of the now-defunct Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

The ruling passed on Tuesday (17 June) comes in a long-standing dispute over the team's abrupt termination from the Indian Premier League fourteen years ago.

A single-judge bench of Justice R.I. Chagla dismissed BCCI's challenge to the award, ruling that the court could not re-examine the merits of the arbitral tribunal's conclusions.

"BCCI's dissatisfaction as to the findings rendered in respect of the evidence and/or the merits cannot be a ground to assail the award," the court observed...