Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday asked the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) is considered as a sports or a commercial activity.
A Division Bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Vibha Kankanwadi was hearing a PIL filed by NGO Loksatta Movement that sought to know why 60 lakh litres of water are being used to maintain cricket pitches for the IPL when parts of the State have barely recovered from drought-like conditions and is facing acute shortage of water as the level of water in dams and lakes in the State has gone down, .
The court was informed of a government policy that says water supply is divided on priority basis into four categories, under which water for drinking comes first and water for ‘shahi snan’ comes last. The court asked if MCA takes water from the BMC for cricket grounds like the Wankhede Stadium.
The advocate representing MCA told the court that it was a commercial or industrial activity. When the court wanted to know what falls under the category of sports activity, it was informed that Test cricket and national level matches come under this. The court has issued notices to various corporations and the State government asking them to file short affidavits regarding their say on the issue of IPL matches being held during drought, and adjourned the matter to August 14.
Last year, the court had directed 13 matches of IPL to be moved out of the State as there was severe water shortage. The then Advocate General had told the court that it will lead to a loss of ₹19.5 crore to the State government as it earns ₹1.5 crore as entertainment duty per match.
