Delhi High Court removes one hurdle for DDCA to host India-South Africa 4th Test

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Emphasizing that the DDCA would not be allowed to seek temporary occupancy certificates again, even for the scheduled T20 World Cup games next year, the bench has asked Justice Mudgal to “ensure that the DDCA takes earnest steps towards obtaining the requisite clearances / compliances” from the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and no-objection certificate from Land and Development Office (L&DO), which have delayed the issuance of a permanent occupancy certificate and completion certificate for the stadium.

The bench also clarified that the required clearances from the fire department, electrical engineers, and other departments would have to be obtained by the DDCA to hold the Test match scheduled to be held between December 3-7. Further, the cricket association has been directed to submit ` 50 lakh out of the pending property tax demand of 1.5 crore to the SDMC within two weeks.

The Delhi government had also intervened in the case being heard over the property tax dispute between the DDCA and SDMC, claiming that the ‘No objection Certificate’ was also required from the government, and asking the court to “ensure” that the “responsible person also to oversee” the match would also “ensure that the funds collected are used to pay the pending taxes”. The bench refused to issue such orders, observing that it would “not denigrate the office of a former High court judge” by asking him to “collect tax for the government”.

The path to the South Africa Test is, however, not completely clear. On Thursday, the court is set to hear a separate plea filed by the DDCA challenging the 23 crore rupee demand raised by the Delhi department of revenue for pending Entertainment tax since 2003. The matter was mentioned before the bench on Wednesday, with Delhi government’s Standing Counsel Rahul Mehra and senior advocate Dayan Krishnan raising objections to the DDCA plea for clearances to hold the Test match.

In its plea on the entertainment tax issue, the DDCA has sought orders to set aside an assessment order from October 23, on grounds that it required the DDCA to claim retrospective tax from sponsorship and advertisements taken out between 2003-2009.

In a statement issued after the court hearing, DDCA acting president Chetan Chauhan said that the cricketing body would “once again” request the BCCI to extend the deadline for getting all required clearances. The BCCI subsequently extended the deadline by a day. The BCCI had earlier given an extension of one day on Tuesday, after the SDMC refused clearance on 16th. If the DDCA is not able to get all the required permissions, the BCCI could shift the match venue to Pune.