Cricket World Cup 2023 | Allahabad HC Disposes PIL Against Ticket Price Disparities For Matches In Lucknow
The Allahabad High Court recently disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea highlighting concerns about price disparities in tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 matches to be held at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. A bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla gave the liberty to the petitioner,...
The Allahabad High Court recently disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea highlighting concerns about price disparities in tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 matches to be held at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
A bench of Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Om Prakash Shukla gave the liberty to the petitioner, one Vipul Tripathi, to raise his grievance, if any, with the UP-Cricket Association’s ombudsman, a body created to address the public grievances relating to ticketing and access and facilities at stadiums.
The Court passed this order as the counsels for the BCCI and the UPCA argued that the writ petition may not lie against private parties, however, if any grievance is to be agitated, the same may be done before the UPCA’s 'Ombudsman'.
Essentially, in the PIL plea, the primary challenge has been made to the decision of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to fix the base price of Rs. 499 for all four out of five Cricket matches (to be played between October 12 and November 3 in Lucknow) except for the match between India and England (scheduled for October 29) which is fixed at Rs 3250 onwards.
However, before the Court, the counsels for the respondents submitted that the tickets have been made available at a price which is at par with other stadiums in the country and the price was fixed having regard to the capacity and demand.
It was further stated that the tickets are available at a reasonable price of Rs.1500/- and above looking to the availability and demand.
About the educational interest, it was further pointed out that the entry of young students of all the Educational Institutions was made free in the events where demand for tickets was low.
Noting that due care has been taken to advance the cause of sports education and a mechanism for redressal of the public grievances has also been created, the Court did not deem it appropriate to grant any indulgence in the matter with the liberty open to the petitioners to raise their grievance, if the same survives.
With this, the PIL plea was disposed of.
Appearances
Counsel for Petitioner: Piyush Pathak
Counsel for Respondents: Kazim Ibrahim, Kartikey Saran, Devrishi Kumar A.S.G.I.,C.S.C
Case title – Vipul Tripathi vs. Union Of India Thru. Secy. Ministry Of Youth Affairs And Sports New Delhi And Others [PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 936 of 2023]
Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 404