Petitions asking foreign players to be quarantined before IPL filed in Bombay High Court – India Today

A civil Public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay high court asking that cricket players coming from abroad to participate in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) matches should be compulsorily quarantined along with support staff coming from abroad for matches across India.

The PIL filed by two businessmen from Ulhasnagar Ram Nandlal Wadhwa and Jitendra Baharani was filed on Friday. The petitioners themselves do not have any tickets to the matches but were concerned for the safety of everyone when a large crowd would gather at various stadiums across the country to view the matches.

The PIL also sought that the people going to the stadium should wear masks, players should avoid contact and handshakes and that everyone should be checked while leaving the stadium by expert medical practitioners.

The IPL was scheduled to start on March 29 but has already been postponed owing to the concern expressed by many including the government. IPL matches have been postponed till 15th April as a precautionary measure against Coronavirus.

Meanwhile, another advocate Aparna Vatkar mentioned a petition seeking cancellation or postponement of the IPL matches before the acting chief justice of Bombay high court on Friday morning.

Vatkar is representing activist Ketan Tirodkar who is seeking either cancellation or postponement of the scheduled game. Vatkar told the court that it was needed in view of the many number of cases of Coronavirus now coming up in India.

“The virus is so sensitive to being spread that it travels via cough, sneezing, breathing, hand-shakes & likes,” said the PIL while praying that Principal Secretary, Health be directed to file a detailed affidavit as to the safety or otherwise in holding IPL tournament in Mumbai on 29th March 2020. Also the PIL prayed that the court should direct the Secretary of BCCI “to cancel the opening match between Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings on 29 January 2020 scheduled at Wankhede Stadium.”

Meanwhile another PIL has been moved before Bombay Bombay High Court seeking precautionary measures by state to curb the spread of Coronavirus. This PIL seeks that holidays be declared for schools and colleges, also work from home facilities should be provided for private companies and hi-tech mechanism should be placed at airports to detect affected persons.

All these petitions will now come up for hearing before the Bombay high court on Monday.