The Supreme Court today, on September 6, dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking toilet facilities for cricketers in all stadiums in Mumbai. A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih has also questioned the petitioner’s right to file a PIL in this matter.

A bench of Justices AS Oka and AG Masih said, “What kind of PIL is this? If there are no toilets for cricketers, they will look into it themselves.”

The double bench of the Supreme Court (SC) was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer. Which was settled by the High Court in June last year. However, when the lawyer approached the Supreme Court to take his PIL to a conclusion, the judge expressed concern over the crowd of cases and made a strict remark and rejected the petition.

In his PIL, the lawyer had sought directions to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to provide drinking water and other facilities to the players during practice or informal matches on public grounds.

The Supreme Court dismissed the PIL

The Supreme Court said, ‘Just look at the pictures you have attached. These very grounds of Mumbai have given the greatest cricketers to the country…’ The bench also asked the petitioner whether he is primarily a cricketer or a lawyer. To this, the petitioner replied, ‘I am a lawyer.’ Hearing this, the bench said, ‘What kind of appeal is made in the PIL? You want toilets to be made available to cricketers in various grounds of Mumbai.’ The apex court said, ‘The Bombay High Court was right in its decision that the PIL is not admissible for hearing.’

Concluding the hearing, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s decision that the PIL was not maintainable, stressing that the issues raised did not call for judicial intervention and were better dealt with by the concerned sports bodies themselves.