The Delhi High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought to have the BCCI and Delhi Capitals pay for IPL security expenses. The court ruled against the demand for these cricket entities to cover the costs incurred by the police for providing security during the matches.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) that requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Delhi Capitals to compensate the Delhi Police for the security services provided during Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
The petitioner, who identified himself as a social activist, noted that the high courts in Mumbai and Jaipur addressed the issue of police deployment payments for IPL matches in those cities.
A bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan stated that both the Centre and the Delhi Police have opted not to charge a fee for IPL matches in the national capital, deeming it a policy decision that does not warrant judicial intervention.
The bench, including Justice Manmeet PS Arora, dismissed the petitioner’s claim, stating,
“We do not find any merit in the submission of the petitioner that there is notional amount due and payable by Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 (BCCI and Delhi Capitals) to Union of India and/or Delhi Police for the past matches held until 2022. The present petition is accordingly dismissed.”
This order was issued on May 28.
However, the court clarified that this decision does not prevent the Delhi Police from levying any fees for past or future dues if they choose to do so.
The petitioner argued that the Delhi Police should have charged the BCCI and Delhi Capitals for the security provided during IPL matches. He highlighted that IPL matches have been held in Delhi since 2008 and asserted that the police could recover a substantial amount if fees were collected for all the matches to date.
The counsel representing the Centre stated that no dues or payments are owed by the BCCI and Delhi Capitals to the Delhi Police, as no fee was agreed upon for the security provided during IPL matches. The court noted that in the case of Maharashtra Police, records indicating that a fee had been negotiated for security services during IPL matches in Mumbai, resulting in a PIL in the Bombay High Court over alleged non-payment.
This PIL resolved after the payment was made. Similarly, the Rajasthan High Court addressed the issue of unpaid dues by the sponsors and organizers of IPL matches for the services rendered by the Rajasthan Police, the court observed.
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The court stated,
“However, in this case, as previously mentioned and acknowledged by the Petitioner, the Union of India and Delhi Police chose not to charge any fee from Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 for the IPL matches held in Delhi. Therefore, there are no outstanding dues owed by Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to either the Union of India or Delhi Police,”
The court concluded,
“We are of the considered opinion that no directions, as sought in the present petition, are maintainable,”
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