IPL 2016: PIL filed against matches in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan

Activists in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have filed a Public interest Litigation (PIL) demanding the relocation of matches of the IPL from their respective capital cities because of drought.

The PIL in Chhattisgarh, filed by RTI activists Kunal Shukla and Abhishek Pratap Singh in the Chhattisgarh High Court, said that the state is facing a severe water crisis and around 117 tehsils are hit by drought.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Raipur collector, Raipur Municipal Commissioner and Chhattisgarh Cricket Sangh (CCS) and IPL governing body were made respondents by the petitioners.

Talking about the similar conditions as Maharashtra in the state, Pratap Singh said, "At a time when Bombay high court rapped BCCI over its requirement of 60 lakh litre water for Indian Premier League (IPL) matches and questioned the water splurge when the state was facing an unprecedented drought and people were facing drinking water crisis, Chhattisgarh is set to use about 78 lakh litre of water to keep Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium fresh where two IPL matches will be played."

Their lawyer, Vimlesh Bajpayee added that it won't be right to use water for IPL when there was water scarcity in 70 wards of Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC). The date of first hearing is yet to be decided.

Legislator Amit Jogi had earlier threatened the state government to move to the court if IPL matches scheduled in Raipur were not cancelled. Jogi had written an open letter to chief minister Raman Singh on Monday in which he has given one week's time for the government to scrap these matches.

The two IPL matches are scheduled on May 20 and May 22 at Raipur's Shaheed Veer Narayan stadium.

PIL filed against IPL matches in Rajasthan and Karnataka

A PIL was filed in the Rajasthan High Court by lawyer Mahesh Parekh against the three IPL matches scheduled to be held in Jaipur in May. The petition explains the conditions in the state and also says that people are struggling to meet their drinking water requirements while water trains have been on service in the Bhilwara and Rajsamand district.

The matches were shifted to the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur after the Bombay High Court ordered that all matches in Maharashtra scheduled to take place in May be shifted due to drought. Mumbai Indians picked the city as their host and the nod was given by the Rajasthan Cricket Association yesterday.

Citing similar reasons, a PIL was filed in the Karnataka High Court by a local advocate named Diwakar, but was rejected by the Karnataka High Court on grounds of loopholes in the petition.