Kicked out of Maharashtra: How the Bombay High Court order will affect IPL 2016

The ninth iteration of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has run into the mother of all roadblocks — in the form of the Bombay High Court's Wednesday order that all IPL matches scheduled in Maharashtra after April 30 be shifted elsewhere in view of the severe drought in the state.

The order came despite an assurance by the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) that IPL franchises of Mumbai and Pune had agreed to contribute Rs 5 crore to the chief minister’s drought relief fund.

Additionally, the BCCI on Tuesday had assured the Bombay High Court that untreated sewage water would be used to maintain pitches for the seventeen IPL matches to be played in Mumbai and Pune.

Despite all arguments set in front of the court by the BCCI, the court said: “We agree that merely shifting of IPL matches out of the state will not be a solution but this can be a beginning to address the drought situation in Maharashtra. Several people are dying because of water scarcity in the state. This court cannot ignore the plight of such people.

”What led to the judgement in the first place:

 A public interest litigation filed by NGO Loksatta Movement, challenging the use of large quantities of water in stadiums despite the state being drought-hit, brought the matter to the attention of the Bombay High Court.

Earlier this month, the high court had questioned the rationale of organising these matches in Maharashtra when the state is under drought.

"How can you waste water like this? Are people more important or IPL? How can you be so careless," the court had said while hearing the suit, adding, "This is criminal wastage. You know the situation in Maharashtra."

The matter had escalated further when Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis refused to provide potable water for maintaining the pitches and said that he was not bothered even if the matches were shifted out of the state.

"My government has taken strong position in the High Court. We have said that we will not provide potable water for IPL for this season. We don't have any problem even if IPL is shifted, but no potable water will be provided," he had told the media.