BackDelhi HC allows DDCA to stage final Test between India and South Africa
Court also directs DDCA to pay `50 lakh to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in lieu of property tax owed by it within two weeks
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New Delhi: Offering relief to the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), the Delhi high court on Wednesday granted it temporary permission to host the fourth and final Test match between India and South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi.
A division bench comprising justices Badar Ahmed Durrez and Sanjeev Sachdeva also directed the association to pay ₹ 50 lakh to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in lieu of property tax owed by it within two weeks so that SDMC can process the provisional occupancy certificate required to host the match, starting 3 December.
The court said that this would be the last time that DDCA was being issued a provisional occupancy certificate and the association would have to obtain the requisite clearances for any future games.
The DDCA has been able to obtain a provisional occupancy certificate on 13 previous occasions by approaching the court.
“They (DDCA) have not been issued the completion certificate due to lack of clearances on their part. Clearances such as No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Land and Development Office, clearance from the Delhi Urban Arts Commission, no-objection certificates from the chief fire officer, the Archaeological Survey of India, etc., which are necessary for issue of the certificate, have not been fulfilled by them. Other conditions such as building an overhead footbridge to the stadium has also not been complied with," Gaurang Kanth, lawyer for SDMC, told the court at an earlier hearing.
The court also appointed retired Delhi high court judge, Mukul Mudgal, to oversee the hosting of the match at the stadium by DDCA.
DDCA had approached the high court on Tuesday, seeking permission to host the fourth Test match at Feroz Shah Kotla, but was opposed by SDMC which said that it should not be allowed to owing to lack of clearances.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, on 12 November, appointed a three-member panel to probe alleged irregularities in DDCA. The panel recommended suspension of the association and replacing it with a body of professional cricketers. It also suggested that DDCA be brought under the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
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