Delhi High Court: In a petition filed under Section 9, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (A&C Act), seeking ad interim protection against the respondents from creating any third-party rights, transferring, assigning or otherwise dealing with the media and commercial rights relating to the Legends League Cricket Masters T20 Tournament (League), the Single Judge Bench of Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, J., refrained from granting ad interim relief and directed the parties to mediation.
The Legends League Cricket T20 Season 2026 was scheduled to commence on 11 March 2026. The dispute arose from a Media Rights Agreement between the parties relating to the broadcast and commercial exploitation of the League, scheduled to commence on 11 March 2026, managed by the respondent, Absolute Legends Sports.
The respondents had submitted that although certain payments remained under discussion, it was imperative that the tournament proceed as scheduled in order to generate revenue and ensure the smooth functioning of the League. The respondents had further argued that the Media Rights Agreement had already attained finality and that the media rights themselves were not in dispute.
After considering the submissions of both parties, the Court declined to grant any ad interim injunction or restraint against the respondents. However, the Court directed the respondents to file an affidavit disclosing all commercial transactions and receivables arising from their ongoing arrangements, including agreements entered into with third parties. Additionally, the respondents were directed to deposit with the Court any receivables arising from such arrangements, which would be applied towards satisfaction of the admitted liability. At the same time, the Court permitted the respondents to utilise funds required for operational expenses necessary for conducting the tournament.
The Court also referred the dispute to the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre for resolution through mediation and directed the parties to appear before the Centre.
The matter was listed for further proceedings on 17 March 2026.
[JioStar India (P) Ltd. v. Absolute Legends Sports (P) Ltd., OMP (I) (COMM) No. 88 of 2026, decided on 11-3-2026]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioner: Kunal Tandon, Senior Advocate, Aanchal Tandon, Niti Jain, Niharika Sharma, Nitai Agarwal, Natasa, Advocates, Krishma Shah, AR
For the Respondent: Abhimanyu Bhandari, Senior Advocate, Arjun Syal, Shreyan Das, Vidisha Kumar, Naman Verma, Pakhi Jain, Advocates