PIL urges HC to direct recovery of Rs 14.8 crore arrears for police protection during IPL games

Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) A PIL has been filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to reduce the rate for police protection provided to the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches with a retrospective effect from 2011.

The public interest litigation (PIL) by activist Anil Galgali said that the police were yet to recover arrears of Rs 14.82 crore from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for the IPL matches held from 2013 to 2018 at the city’s Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums.

As per the plea, the state government issued a circular on June 26, 2023, reducing the security charges for police protection from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per match.

Galgali in the petition has objected to the circular having a retrospective effect from 2011, saying it would also amount to a reduction in the arrears pending.

The petition came up for hearing on Wednesday before a division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar which directed the additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan to submit a translated copy of the Marathi circular on Thursday.

Galgali in his plea called the government’s decision “illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.

“This decision was taken to benefit the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) but the same was causing a loss to the public exchequer,” the plea said.

The plea said that in 2021, the Mumbai police had raised a demand of Rs 14.82 crore to the MCA for providing police protection for the games organised between 2013 and 2018 at the Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums.

As per information obtained under the Right to Information Act, the police have so far sent 35 letters to the MCA seeking payment of the dues, the petition said. Besides this, no serious effort has been taken by the police to recover the dues, it said.

“Because of the lackadaisical and easy going attitude of the police department and a recalcitrant attitude of the MCA, there is a loss of Rs 14.82 crore to the state exchequer," the PIL said.

The petition said the IPL T-20 games are purely a commercial venture and are played between privately owned franchises and not national or international teams.

It added that the government and police were setting a bad precedent by not taking the matter seriously and not making sincere efforts to recover the dues.

The plea sought HC to quash the June 2023 circular issued by the government to the extent that it is applicable from 2011 and hence binding on the recovery of the Rs 14.82 crore arrears from the MCA.

It also sought a direction for the police department to take steps to recover the arrears along with appropriate interest. PTI SP NR