NEW DELHI : McDonald’s on Monday snapped its franchise agreement with Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd ( CPRL ), its equally owned joint venture with Vikram Bakshi that operated the US chain’s restaurants in northern and eastern India.McDonald’s has taken away all branding, trademark, design and marketing policy rights from CPRL while culminating a 22-year relationship with Bakshi.The decision could impact about 6,500 direct jobs in India, and lead to the possible closure of McDonald’s restaurants in the northern and eastern regions, at least temporarily. CPRL owned 169 outlets, including 43 in and around Delhi that have already been shut down.According to three industry executives, Amit Jatia, the vice chairman of Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd (HPRL) who has the master franchise for McDonald’s in West and South India for two decades, is the front-runner to get the rights to operate the US chain’s restaurants in the North and East as well.In a statement, McDonald’s said it was “committed to finding the right developmental licensee partner for North & East India”.A company spokesperson, while speaking to ET, neither denied nor confirmed any move to expand the partnership with Jatia. Ron Christianson, McDonald’s global head of corporate relations and foundational markets, would only say that the process to find a new partner was in the initial stages. An HRPL spokesperson declined to comment.Monday’s development is the latest in a long-drawn battle between Bakshi and McDonald’s. McDonald’s had alleged financial irregularities against Bakshi and removed him as the managing director of CPRL in 2013. But the National Company Law Tribunal reinstated him last month, terming the US company’s action as “illegal, unlawful, unjust and malicious”.The battle had not only impacted profitability of CPRL, but also revenue growth, which fell to 6% in 2014-15 from 29% four years earlier.The burger and fries chain said it was compelled to terminate the agreement because “CPRL has materially breached the terms of the respective franchise agreements relating to the affected restaurants, and has failed to remedy the breaches despite being provided with an opportunity to do so in accordance with the agreements”.Bakshi called the move “a direct affront on the Indian legal system and an open challenge to the judgement by the National Company Law Tribunal principal bench”.Christianson, speaking to ET over the phone from the company’s Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, said the chain was “taking steps” to find the right partner.“We are committed to finding a new partner; it is very early stages and we will start the process soon,” he added, adding: “There are no concrete conversations as yet. It could take several months at the least and we cannot speculate at this stage.”“CPRL is required to cease using the McDonald’s System and its associated intellectual property in relation to these restaurants within 15 days of the termination notice,” the McDonald’s statement said.“It will take time to bring the current situation to a final resolution. However, we remain fully committed to the opportunity in North and East of India and are already looking at the necessary steps to rebuild the brand,” the company added. It didn’t comment on its stake in the joint venture.The future of the 6,500 employees working at the 169 stores is uncertain. “While we understand that this action will create uncertainty, it is a fluid situation; the notice of termination (of the franchise agreement) is the first step,” the McDonald’s executive said.He said as the company proceeds to exercise its legal and contractual rights consequent on termination, its priority will be to mitigate impact on affected parties such as employees, suppliers and landlords. “We are open to working with CPRL to achieve this,” he said.Speaking to ET, Bakshi said McDonald’s action was “desperate” and that he was considering the appropriate legal remedies that are available under law. He said McDonald’s move to terminate the agreement was “a completely contemptuous, mala fide and yet another oppressive act” indulged in by the company to sabotage the order of the NCLT.When asked about Bakshi’s threat to approach the court, McDonald’s Christianson said: “At the moment we are studying our options. Nothing changes at our end; we are looking at next forward steps.”McDonald’s issued the franchise termination letter on the morning of the first board meeting, scheduled by the administrator appointed by the NCLT for Monday. According to Bakshi, the two directors of McDonald’s did not attend the board meeting where one of the items on the agenda was to discuss the reopening of the 43 restaurants whose operations were suspended about two months back on account of non-renewal of eating house licences by local authorities.