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MUMBAI: Even as the fifth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off on April 4, a public interest litigation has urged the Bombay high court to direct the police to not provide protection for matches to be played in Maharashtra until Rs 5.17 crore arrears of IPL 2010 are cleared. Eight IPL matches will be played in Mumbai, the first on April 6. The petition, filed by secretary of BJP's Navi Mumbai unit Santosh Pachalag, states that the Navi Mumbai police had sent a bill of Rs 5.65 crore to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) but received only Rs 47.53 lakh. Six matches were played at D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The matter was mentioned by Pachalag's advocate Ganesh Sovani last week before a division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Ranjit More and is posted for hearing on Monday. According to Pachalag's petition, BCCI had availed of over 3,300 police personnel for IPL 2010 matches. As the strength of Navi Mumbai police is just 1,900, personnel were drawn from other police commissionerates and districts. In his petition, Pachalag says that he learnt through Right to Information that the Navi Mumbai police had till January 1 not raised the bill for 2011 IPL matches. Pointing out that no effort is being made by the police commissioner to recover the balance Rs 5.17 crore, Pachalag has sought direction to the police to recover the arrears. He has also prayed for fixing responsibility on erring officers and for guidelines on how the police should be made available for big events. |
| SOURCE: The Times of India |
