Delhi gets court permission to host IPL 5 matches

New Delhi: Clearing the way for the hosting of IPL 5 matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) to give a provisional occupancy certificate to the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) for the high-profile event. A bench of Justices BD Ahmed and Veena Birbal, which had earlier asked the civic agency to allow the DDCA to hold an IPL fixture on April 10 in the stadium, extended the relief for the entire tournament.
The re-constructed stadium is the home ground for Delhi Daredevils who are scheduled to play eight out of 16 IPL matches here. However, the non-issuance of the occupancy certificate by the MCD due to non-fulfilling of certain formalities by the DDCA was coming in the way. Later, the High Court asked the civic body to give a provisional certificate for the hosting of a match on April 10.


During the hearing, the counsel for the DDCA told the court that the administrator had procured a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the Fire Department and Structural Stability certificate. Regarding the non-furnishing of an NoC from the Electrical Department, the counsel assured the court that the DDCA may be held accountable if any untoward incident takes place because of electricity-related faults.
Meanwhile, the civic body, in its application, alleged that the DDCA, which completed the construction of the stadium in 2008, was deliberately not fulfilling formalities to get the occupancy certificate from it as the cricket governing body in Delhi was trying to avoid various tax liabilities.