HC raps state for reducing police protection fee for IPL matches

Bombay HC criticized Maharashtra govt for retrospectively reducing police protection fees for cricket matches from 2011, questioning the rationale and demanding an affidavit.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for retrospectively reducing police protection fees for cricket matches across the state from 2011.

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A bench of chief justice Devendra K Upadhyay and justice Amit Borkar noted that a state government circular dated 26 June 2023 had retrospectively reduced the fees to be charged by the police department for providing police personnel for cricket events from ₹25 lakh to ₹10 lakh.

The court was listening to a plea filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali against the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI), which revealed that the MCA still owes the police department ₹14.82 crore for the IPL matches organised at the Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums between 2013 and 2018.

The court observed that the state’s fee structure for providing police personnel for cricketing events had hiked up recently in a government resolution dated 12 November 2018 but was then reduced retrospectively in 2023.

“What is this, madam? You keep increasing water charges for the public, even for slum dwellers but reduce these fees. BCCI is one of the richest cricket associations globally. That’s how they become rich,” the court remarked while addressing the State’s government pleader. The court further added that it did not fully understand the intention for such a retrospective reduction of prices.

The court initially refused to hear the plea and was inclined to dismiss it because they could not investigate whether the police department recovered the money owed to it. However, when the government resolution dated, 26 June 2023 was shown to the court, it agreed to examine the limited point of the retrospective downward revision of fees.

The court has directed a senior official like an Additional Chief Secretary or an officer authorized by him on this behalf to file an affidavit stating the rationale behind the retrospective downward revision of prices. The Court will hear the matter next on October 7.