Plea in court seeks government takeover of BCCI, IPL

The Madras High Court has issued notices to the BCCI president and the IPL chairman, among others, on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a Madurai-based lawyer seeking a government takeover of the administration of the BCCI and the IPL. The lawyer, V Santhakumaresan, alleged that the Indian board had failed to promote the game, and that conduct of certain activities and the receipt of income were totally commercial without any objective of charity.

He asked the court to direct the CBI to conduct an investigation into match-fixing, betting and the BCCI's source of income and financial status, and sought a stay on IPL matches to be played from May 22 to 26.

Meanwhile in a decision similar to the one given by the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court quashed a PIL refusing to ban the IPL, saying the apex court had already dealt with the issue. A division bench of the high court refused to hear the issue related to spot-fixing in the IPL, but agreed to hear a separate issue which sought the segregation of the IPL form the BCCI.

The Supreme Court had rejected a petition filed by a Lucknow resident to stay the IPL playoff matches until the completion of investigations of the alleged spot-fixing in the tournament.