Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). (Representational image)
The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the state government to provide facilities including toilets, drinking water and medical help on public grounds across Maharashtra, where matches are held by the cricket control bodies.
A division bench of Justice Anil K Menon and Justice Makarand S Karnik was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by advocate Rahul Tiwari, which raised grievances that cricket players, especially those playing in Mumbai, are not provided basic sanitary and medical facilities during initial stages of their career and this violates their fundamental rights.
Tiwari had said that when a ground is booked for practice, the civic body or sports association managing the ground charge fees for the same. However, even on grounds where professional cricket camps are organised, no access to clean drinking water or toilets for the players is provided, the petitioner said.
The bench orally said that adults and children play cricket and other sports on public grounds across the state and most of these grounds are managed by cricket associations. These associations should provide facilities at training camps and other places where cricket is played so as to encourage the players, said the bench.
A lawyer for the cricket associations told the HC that public grounds are maintained by municipal bodies and when associations have to organise camps or practice matches, they have to seek nod for basic facilities, which is denied by concerned authorities.
“This is not an adversarial litigation. You might get your next star from a public ground. So many bright children are playing on public grounds,” Justice Menon remarked.
The bench also pulled up cricket associations and civic bodies and said that they cannot claim lack of funds as an excuse to not provide facilities. “These are the last organisations that can say they do not have funds,” said Justice Menon.
The court asked the state government, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), MCA and BCCI to file affidavits as to how many grounds come under their control and what facilities could be provided to the players. The High Court will hear the PIL again after two weeks.
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