HC questions commercial use of indoor stadium

HC questions commercial use of indoor stadium
Tuesday January 15 2008 01:53 IST

ENS



BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Monday issued notice to the Youth Services and Sports' Secretary and Commissioner, Sports Authority of Karnataka and Kanteerva Stadium Maintenance Officer, for using the indoor stadium for commercial purposes and for renting out land for private parking.

Hearing a Public Interest Litigation by K Patil Muniyappa, the HC Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph questioned:

“How could sports land be given out to private parties for a permanent parking lot?''

The Court directed government departments to respond to its notices and adjourned the case for further hearing.

The Mallya Hospital had rented space at the Kanteerva stadium for its parking purposes. With the expiry of the lease recently, the Mallya Hospital management had met the Governor for extending the lease and for the building of a multilevel parking lot.

This proposal had drawn criticism from various quarters and the stadium authorities had hurriedly fenced the area in December and started clearing the grounds.

The PIL also points out that the indoor stadium was being extensively used for conducting exhibitions and other commercial events, rather than sports, thereby spoiling the grounds.