Madras high court clears last hurdle for IPL match

Chennai, Mat 14 –  Clearing the last hurdle for today's IPL match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Madras high court stayed the state government's withdrawal of stability certificate for the stadium.

 

A vacation bench comprising Justice M Venugopal and Justice N Kirubakaran granted the interim stay on Tuesday, on a petition from the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

 

The TNCA, which has already successfully moved the Supreme Court to use three newly built stands — I,J and K– at the sporting facility, rushed to the court after it was made known by the government that the stability certificate for the stadium had been withdrawn and that the TJCA has to apply afresh for the clearance.

 

When the matter was taken up for hearing, senior counsel for TNCA PS Raman informed the court that the clearance had been withdrawn at the eleventh hour, that too without any prior notice to the TNCA. The stadium had hosted about seven IPL matches this season, the last match of the season was to be hosted on Tuesday evening, he said. The principle of natural justice has been violated, he said.

 

Advocate-general AL Somayaji, however, said there was a serious disparity between the number of stands the stadium had and what had been declared in the planning approval application. While the facility had 11 stands, the TNCA had accounted for only nine while seeking planning permission, he said.

 

To this, Raman said two stands had been combined and named after former chief minister Annadurai. They are called Anna Pavillion, he said.

 

On his part, Justicr Kirubakaran expressed his dissatisfaction saying IPL was just a club affair, having nothing to do with the nation and honour. The event caused a lot of public inconvenience too, he said.

 

The bench, however, agreed with Raman's submission that prior notice ought to have been issued to the association before cancelling the certificate. Staying to its operation for four weeks, the judges also issued notice to the state government. Source: TNN