High Court notice to Centre, BCCI on plea seeking to stall IPL

A division bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Krishnan Ramasamy issued notice to returnable by March 23. In his public interest litigation, G Alex Benziger cited the rapid spread of coronavirus and sought for a direction to the Centre not to allow BCCI to conduct IPL matches scheduled between March 29 and May 24. Holding matches involving huge gatherings and foreign players could contribute to the spread of virus that has been posing a grave threat across the world. He also claimed that he filed the petition after his representation to the BCCI in this regard failed to evoke any response.

Meanwhile, the first bench dismissed a plea seeking to close schools in view of coronavirus following government submission that the situation was under control and there was no need to panic. When the public interest litigation seeking to close schools came before them on Wednesday, Chief Justice AP Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy refused to entertain the plea.

The petitioner Rajavelu submitted that coronavirus was rapidly spreading worldwide, leading to cancellation of many public events. Even the State and Centre have been issuing advisories against large gatherings, he added.

As children are incapable of protecting themselves, it is imperative to not allow them to gather in large numbers, the petitioner said, noting that states like Kerala and Karnataka have closed schools. The students would not lose much, as the academic year is also coming to an end. However, the government counsel submitted that the government was taking many measures to prevent the spread of the virus and was conducting awareness campaign in all the schools. Also, not a single student has tested positive for coronavirus, the counsel said.