Bad news is coming out regarding Mullanpur stadium located in Chandigarh. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and other concerned parties will be banned from organizing cricket matches at the Maharaja Yadvendra Singh Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Mohali. In fact, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to stop the match. Advocate Sunaina has filed this petition in the High Court.

Where was the mistake in building Mullanpur Stadium?

Now the question is what is the problem regarding cricket matches? Let us tell you that this stadium, built in the year 2021, is spread over 41 acres and 33,000 people can sit in this stadium and watch the match. But a law student named Nikhil Thamman, in his PIL, has hit out at the state of Punjab and other respondents, saying the construction of the stadium was “unauthorized”.

Nikhil has highlighted some things in the issue raised, let’s see-

• He says that the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2006 regarding environmental protection has been violated. Frankly speaking, Nikhil says that the stadium has not been built following the correct protocol.
• Not only this, he also claimed that the officials did not even obtain the mandatory forest and wildlife clearance under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 from the National Wildlife Board.
• According to their PIL, the project falls within 10 km of the bird sanctuary in Sector 21, Chandigarh.

Requested not to play IPL match

The petitioner also sought directions to ban BCCI-PCA from organizing Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. Apart from this, he also demanded an immediate ban on the sale of match tickets for the IPL by the BCCI. Let us tell you that Punjab Kings played their first match in IPL 2024 on March 23 against Delhi Capitals at Mullanpur Stadium.

According to the petitioner, the notification dated September 14, 2006 stated that projects with more than 1.5 lakh square meters of built-up area would have to obtain environmental clearance from the Central Government. He also referred to the instructions issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on March 15, 2011. The letter said that if the project site is in an eco-sensitive area zone or within 10 km thereof, the user agency will have to take prior approval from the Standing Committee of the National Wildlife Board. Now we will have to wait to see what further decision the court takes on this.