IPL dues: State govt faces HC heat
The Bombay high court on Thursday reprimanded the Maharashtra government for failing to recover the pending dues to the Navi Mumbai and the Nagpur police from BCCI for security provided during the season 4 of the Indian Premier League.
A division bench of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice A.P. Bhangale was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Santosh Pachlag. The petitioner’s lawyer Ganesh Sovani had informed the court that the BCCI owed over `5 crore to the state for the security it had provided for IPL matches played in Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil stadium. Both parties blamed each other and stated that the other party is responsible for the payment.
Senior counsel Raju Subramanium, representing BCCI, informed the court that as BCCI had never requested for security from the state government in the first place, it was not liable to pay the entire arrear. “It was the stadium where matches were held and the franchise owners that had sought for security. Hence, they are liable for the payment and not BCCI,” he said.
The bench remarked that it has been over two years and the state had still not recovered the dues from BCCI. “The amount is huge according to us. May be the amount is small for the state government. Despite not getting the arrears, the state government keeps providing security and other facilities religiously,” the court said.
When the court was informed that the next IPL season is to begin from April 3, the bench remarked that the state had adequate time to collect the dues from the concerned parties. The bench then directed that notices be issued to the DY Patil stadium management where the matches were held in 2010 and the concerned franchise owner. The court then posted the matter to March 26.
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