JioStar vs Absolute Legends: Delhi High Court intervenes in high-stakes T20 media rights battle

The league features teams like the Indian Maharajas, Asia Lions, and World Giants, focusing on fan engagement and nastalgia, often histing matches in international venues.

The competition traditionally features iconic, competitive, or regional teams rather than typical franchise city teams. It focuses on high-octane T20 matches aimed at global cricket fans.

Case of third-party media rights

• The matter arose from a petition filed under Section 9 (Interim measures, etc., by court) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
• The petitioner JioStar India, represented by a senior advocate, Kunal Tandon, along with advocates Aanchal Tandon, Niti Jain, Niharika Sharma, Nitai Agarwal, and Natasa, has sought ad-interim relief to prevent the respondents from creating third-party rights, transferring, or assigning the media and commercial interests associated with the cricket league.
• Senior Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, along with advocates Arjun Syal, Shreyan Das, Vidisha Kumar and Naman Vermaappearing, appearing for Absolute Legends Sports, submitted that the company would file an affidavit disclosing all current commercial transactions.

Company’s undertakings and disclosure

In response to the JioStar India petition, Absolute Legends Sports has agreed to provide full transparency regarding its commercial dealings. The court has noted the following commitments from the company:

Affidavits of disclosure: All directors of the company must file affidavits detailing current commercial transactions, including specific agreements made with the second respondent

Financial accountability: The respondent has committed to disclosing all receivables from any commercial arrangements and depositing these funds with the Registrar General of the High Court to satisfy admitted liabilities.

Operational caveat: The company has requested that these financial restrictions not impede their ability to cover operational expenses essential for the “smooth functioning” of their commercial activities.

Path to Mediation

Recognising the possibility of a settlement, both parties agreed (ad idem) to attempt mediation. Consequently, the court referred the dispute to the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre, directing the appointment of a Senior Mediator to oversee the process.

The parties were ordered to appear before the Mediation Centre on March 13, 2026. The high court has scheduled the next hearing for March 17, 2026, to review the progress of the mediation and further proceedings.

‘Mediation: Need of the hour’

Senior advocate and former Chhattisgarh Advocate General Ravindra Shrivastava underlined the growing need for mediation in India, referring to the “huge pendency” in courts, which are unable to cope up with such numbers.

“Huge population, skewed judge population ratio, lack of infrastructure, shortcomings and delays in the appointment of judges, compromise in merit, and lack of sensitivity on the part of the bar are some of the well-known problems. Therefore, mediation is the need of the hour. It should be the order of the day and the norm of complete disposition towards the administration of justice. In the current scenario, it is apposite that ‘mediation first, litigation last’ should be the slogan,” he said.