Bombay High court asks if BCCI can shift IPL matches out of Pune

In a huge jolt to the ongoing Indian Premier League, the Bombay High court asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) if they were willing to shift out some of the IPL matches scheduled to be held in Pune.

Many parts of Maharashtra are battling severe water drought. The Bombay HC also asked the board that whether they can provide 40 lacs litre water which it used earlier to the affected drought areas? The second question was how much fund can BCCI donate to the CM fund for drought affected areas?

A bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice MS Karnik made the query after hearing a public interest litigation by NGOs Loksatta Movement and Foundation for Democratic Reforms on the "misuse" of lakhs of litres of water for maintaining cricket pitches.

BCCI had also informed the court that they will use treated sewage water to maintain its pitches for seventeen matches to be played in Mumbai and Pune.

The Bombay High Court had allowed the opening match of the season between Mumbai Indians and Mumbai and Pune are scheduled to host 9 and 8 matches, respectively, in IPL-9, while three matches will be hosted by Nagpur.