Rajasthan Royals dragged to Supreme Court in S Sreesanth case amid slapgate controversy

The Rajasthan Royals have found themselves in another controversy as their long-running legal battle involving former Indian pacer S Sreesanth reached the Supreme Court. The Rajasthan Royals and the United India Insurance Company are battling over the 2012 IPL season drama.

The issue started when Rajasthan Royals filed an insurance claim of more than ₹82 lakh after Sreesanth was ruled out of the 2012 season. The fast bowler had suffered a knee injury during a practice match, which forced him to miss the entire IPL 2012 season.

Supreme Court hears Rajasthan Royals-Insurance Company feud over Sreesanth

The Royals argued that they were eligible for the compensation since the injury occurred during the insurance period, but the United India Insurance Company refused. They rejected the claim, insisting that Sreesanth already had a toe injury from 2011 that he did not reveal.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

The insurance company claimed that the older injury could have prevented Sreesanth from playing in IPL 2012, so the Rajasthan Royals’ claim was not valid. But the franchise insisted that the toe injury was not serious and had not stopped Sreesanth from playing earlier.

They emphasized that it was the knee injury, and not anything else, that had completely ruled him out of that season. Even the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had earlier ordered the insurance company to pay the amount asked by the Rajasthan Royals.

Read Also: Gautam Gambhir shockingly overlooks Virat Kohli and names Shubman Gill the “Most Stylish” cricketer

The Supreme Court asked for more documents in the final hearing

But the company decided to escalate the matter and took the matter to the Supreme Court. Now, in the recent hearing, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta focused on whether Sreesanth’s old toe injury had been disclosed at the time of taking the cover by the franchise.

The judges also questioned whether the insurance company already knew about the injury; if so, then it should not have accepted the policy and agreed to cover Sreesanth in the first place.

The Supreme Court has now adjourned the case, asking the insurance company to submit more documents, including Sreesanth’s fitness certificate and the original insurance application, to check whether the injury was disclosed before delivering their final verdict.

Insurance Company claims Rajasthan Royals hid Sreesanth’s past injury

During the hearing, the United India Insurance Company was represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati. The company maintained that the main issue was that the RR didn’t reveal the pacer’s toe injury.

They said the policy was given on the assumption that all past injuries were completely revealed, but they weren’t, so the claim could not be accepted.

RR argues Sreesanth’s knee injury cost him the IPL 2012, not the old toe issue

On the other side, Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul appeared for the Royals in the court. He argued that the toe injury had nothing to do with Sreesanth’s ability to play, as the bowler had already taken part in matches after recovering from it. It was the sudden knee injury that Sreesanth picked up during the insured period that actually ruled him out of the tournament.

The Royals’ stance is that their main purpose of taking such a policy is to safeguard both the franchise and the players. If a cricketer gets injured during the season and cannot play, the policy should ensure that the player’s payments and the team’s expenses are covered, regardless of old issues that had no effect on his fitness at the time.

Kaul also said that when Sreesanth joined the franchise, the insurance company was given a fitness certificate, and another certificate was submitted later when he suffered a knee injury.

Read Also: Robin Uthappa blames 'honesty' for bitter fallout with Virat Kohli