Sreesanth’s insurance row: Rajasthan Royals dragged to Supreme Court

The Supreme Court panel has asked for more papers, such as Sreesanth's fitness certificate, to ascertain whether the pre-existing toe injury was ever reported, even though a ruling has not yet been rendered. After hearing brief oral arguments, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta inquired as to whether the IPL franchise had informed the insurance company of Sreesanth's toe injury.

The bench further stated that Sreesanth should not have been covered in the first place if the insurance company had known about the toe injury.

In the end, the highest court postponed the case because it ordered the insurance company to provide more documents for clarification, such as Sreesanth's fitness certificate and the application that was filed for insurance.

Speaking on behalf of the insurance company, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati argued that the NCDRC order addressed Sreesanth's prior toe injury, which was unrelated to the knee injury (suffered during the insurance term). In contrast, the firm essentially asserted that the IPL team had failed to disclose the players' toe ailment while they were insuring them.

Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul represented the IPL franchise and said that Sreesanth was not rendered ineligible to play because of a prior toe injury, which caused the insurer to reject the claim. Instead, he was rendered unfit due to a knee injury sustained during the insurance period.

The IPL franchise argued in court that a policy's goal is to guarantee that a player who sustains an injury during the competition and becomes unable to play is still compensated by the BCCI and the relevant club.

"The toe injury did not stop him from playing. He was playing! It was during the practice session that he had a knee injury!," Kaul for Rajasthan Royals noted as quoted by the report. Additionally, Kaul said that the insurance company had received a fitness certificate when Sreesanth first joined and another when he suffered a knee ailment.

In response, Justice Mehta asked, "whether that certificate has disclosure about the toe injury?"

The bench also stated verbally that the insurance company might have thought about refusing to insure the player or raising the cost if the player had disclosed the pre-existing toe injury.

The franchise purchased a "Special Contingency Insurance for Player Loss of Fees Cover" (coverage) from the insurance provider for a total of Rs. 8,70,75,000 for the 2012 IPL season.

Accordingly, the company was responsible for compensating the IPL franchise for any money that was lost or owed to the contracted players as a result of their absence from the competition.

The non-appearance was contingent upon the occurrence of events specified in the policy, such as an accident or injury experienced during the policy period. The policy went into effect on March 28, 2012. S Sreesanth, one of the insured players, had a knee injury during a practice match in Jaipur on that very day.

Following diagnosis and treatment, it was determined that his knee injury rendered him ineligible to compete in IPL 2012. In accordance with the policy, the Rajasthan Royals submitted a claim for Rs. 82,80,000 on September 17, 2012, requesting that the claim for lost player fees be processed.

The insurance company hired a surveyor, who stated that the claim was covered by the policy and that the injuries resulted from a "sudden unforeseen and unexpected event." However, the appellant rejected the insurer's claim, arguing that it failed to disclose an injury that already existed for the insured player (Sreesanth) to the insurer.