Saturday, Apr 20, 2024 | Last Update : 01:37 AM IST
Better to shift matches out: Supreme Court
P.
P. Chidambaram, senior counsel appearing for MCA and the Pune Cricket Association, said in an affidavit that they have clearly undertaken to use only the treated sewage water made available to it by the Royal Western India Turf Club from its sewage treatment plant at Mahalaxmi, Mumbai, which otherwise, in any case, would have been released into the sea. The petitioner has also undertaken to supply at its own cost a specified quantity of water to any government-nominated village as its own contribution to water-deprived people of the specified region.
The state cricket bodies were seeking a stay of the Bombay high court order directing the Maharashtra Cricket Association and the BCCI to shift out of the state all IPL matches to be held from May 1 onwards due to the drought conditions in the state.
At one stage the Chief Justice of India suggested that the court would direct the authorities in Mumbai and Pune to disconnect all water connections to the stadium to ensure that not a drop of drinking water would be used.
However, the bench later said since lakhs of people gather in the stadium, these directions would be unnecessary.
“It is better you shift the matches out of the state,” the bench said and dismissed the appeals.
The Bombay high court had passed the order even as the BCCI and its various state associations offered to pay about Rs 5 crore to each affected district in the state and also assured all help in rendering ameliorative measures for the drought-affected people.
In their appeal, the MCA and Pune CA said they fully shared the high court’s concern for the serious drought condition necessitating extraordinary measures to combat the problem.
According to the appellants, transferring IPL matches out of Maharashtra undoubtedly symbolises sensitivity. “However, accepting the offer of the petitioner and others to contribute towards the relief measures out of the revenues earned by them through the matches would be a partial practical resolution to the problem,” the appellants said.
