SC Issues Notice on Afghanistan Cricket Board's Plea Seeking Arbitrator In Content Monetisation Dispute With Indian Firm

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice in a petition filed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board seeking appointment of a sole arbitrator in a dispute with Mumbai-based Nimayate Corporate Solutions Pvt Ltd over alleged non-payment of dues under a content monetisation agreement.

The matter was taken up by a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana.

According to the plea, the Afghanistan Cricket Board and Nimayate Corporate Solutions entered into a Content Monetisation Agreement on July 18, 2023.

Under the agreement, Nimayate Corporate Solutions was granted exclusive rights to distribute and monetise ACB's audio and audio-visual cricket content across platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other mutually agreed digital channels.

The cricket board, in turn, was to be paid in line with the revenue-sharing arrangement agreed between the parties.

The agreement took effect on August 1, 2023. While it was initially intended to run for one year, the petition states that the parties continued their commercial arrangement until February 18, 2025.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board has claimed that despite performing its obligations under the agreement, including providing access to its content management systems, payments due under the arrangement remained outstanding.

It has sought recovery of USD 29,276.19, which it alleges remains unpaid against invoices raised between December 2024 and March 2025.

Apart from recovery of the alleged outstanding amount, the petition states that ACB proposes to seek return of content created for the purposes of the agreement, interim deposit of the claimed amount during arbitral proceedings, costs, and compensation for any alleged unauthorised use of licensed rights.

The plea states, “In view of the above, the Petitioner submits that the Respondent has failed to comply with its payment obligations under Clause 2(iv), Clause 2(vi), read with Annexure I of the Agreement dated 18.07.2023, inasmuch as, the Respondent has unilaterally withheld payments of a total amount of USD 29,276.19, despite inter alia exploiting the Licensed Rights under the Agreement dated 18.07.2023 and having earned substantial revenues from the same.”

According to the petition, the alleged outstanding amount relates to invoices dated December 2, 2024, December 31, 2024 and March 18, 2025.

The cricket board has further stated that the company acknowledged pending invoices through emails dated December 3, 2024 and January 22, 2025.

The plea states that ACB terminated the agreement with effect from February 18, 2025. It also requested payment of pending dues within five days. A legal notice seeking payment of the alleged outstanding amount was subsequently issued on April 23, 2025.

According to the petition, Nimayate Corporate Solutions denied liability in its reply dated May 6, 2025.

ACB thereafter invoked the arbitration clause on June 20, 2025 and nominated George Pothan Poothicote as sole arbitrator. The petition states that Nimayate Corporate Solutions rejected that nomination and instead proposed Shubro Dey as sole arbitrator.

Referring to the arbitration clause, the cricket board has contended that disputes under the agreement are required to be referred to “a sole arbitrator mutually appointed by the Parties”.

Contending that the contractual appointment procedure has failed, ACB has approached the Supreme Court seeking appointment of a sole arbitrator to adjudicate disputes arising under the agreement.

For Petitioner: Advocates Pranjit Bhattacharya, Salonee Shukla, Shalini Singh, AOR Vaibhav Niti