The Bombay High Court has expressed strong displeasure over the decision of the Maharashtra government to reduce the police security fee for the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. The court said, “This is a fee, not a tax. You keep increasing the water charges even from slum dwellers, but are reducing the fee from BCCI? BCCI is the richest cricket association in the world. This is how they become rich.”
The matter is related to a PIL filed by activist Anil Galgali. The petition states that the Maharashtra government issued a circular on June 26, 2023, reducing the police security fee for IPL matches from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per match. This reduction has been implemented with retrospective effect from 2011, which will also reduce the pending dues.
Hearing the petition, a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Amit Borkar has directed Additional Government Advocate Jyoti Chavan to submit a translated copy of the Marathi circular.
In his petition, Galgali has termed this decision of the government as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional. The petition states that this decision has been taken to benefit the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), which is causing loss to the government treasury. The petition also mentions that the Mumbai Police had demanded payment of Rs 14.82 crore from the MCA for the IPL matches held at Wankhede and Brabourne Stadium between 2013 and 2018, but till now this outstanding amount has not been recovered.
According to information received under RTI, the police department has sent 35 letters to MCA for payment of dues, but no action has been taken. The petition states that IPL is a commercial venture and matches are played between privately owned franchises. The lack of seriousness of the government and the police in this matter is causing loss to the state treasury.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)