(Credit IPL)
On Thursday, the Bombay High Court instructed the Maharashtra government to explain its decision to cut and waive the outstanding fees owed by IPL match organizers for police coverage, expressing concerns about the lack of justification for this action.
A division bench consisting of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar noted the discrepancy between the government’s approach to increasing water tax charges for slum residents while simultaneously forgiving fees for police cover from wealthy cricket match organizers.
“What is this? What are you (government) doing? This is a fee not tax. You will keep on increasing the water tax from slum dwellers and then you waive off the fee for such cricket matches. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) is the richest cricket association globally,” the court said.
The bench was reviewing a public interest litigation (PIL) brought by activist Anil Galgali, which contested the state’s decision to retroactively lower the fees for police protection at Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 matches starting from 2011.
The petition highlighted that the police had yet to recover ₹14.82 crore in outstanding dues from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for IPL matches held between 2013 and 2018 at the Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums in Mumbai.
According to two Government Resolutions issued in 2017 and 2018, organizers were required to pay approximately ₹66 to ₹75 lakh per T20 and One-Day match, and ₹55 lakh for a Test match held at these venues.
In June 2023, the government released a new Government Resolution (GR) that cut the fees for police protection at T20 and One-Day matches to ₹25 lakh, according to the plea.
Anil Galgali’s petition argued that this GR had retroactive effect from 2011, effectively eliminating the outstanding arrears owed by the organizers.
On Thursday, the bench instructed the state government to submit an affidavit within two weeks, explaining the rationale behind both the reduction in fees and the waiver of the existing arrears.
“Prime facie, we do not find any rationale for the state government to have not only reduced the fee to be paid by the organisers for police deployment but to have also waived off the arrears,” the court said.
The court directed that the affidavit be submitted by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) or another senior official designated by him.
The affidavit must detail the total arrears owed by cricket match organizers since 2011 and outline the actions the government has taken to recover these amounts, the court specified.
According to the plea, in 2021, the Mumbai police demanded ₹14.82 crore from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for police protection provided during IPL matches held from 2013 to 2018 at Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums.
The petition also noted that, based on information obtained through the Right to Information Act, the police have issued 35 letters to the MCA requesting payment. However, it claimed that no significant efforts have been made by the police to recover the outstanding dues.
The plea requested that the High Court annul the June 2023 circular issued by the government, specifically the part that applies retroactively from 2011, thereby affecting the recovery of the ₹14.82 crore arrears from the MCA.
Additionally, the plea sought an order for the police department to take necessary measures to recover the outstanding arrears, including the appropriate interest.
