"First let us ensure villages in Maharashtra get water:" Bombay High Court on plea for potable water on cricket grounds

The Bombay High Court on Thursday took a dim view of a petition seeking potable water on the grounds of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and stated that the plea would be low down on the priority list of cases before it. .A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik also berated the petitioner, stating that many villages in Maharashtra don't have enough drinking water and the same has to be rectified first before examining situation on cricket grounds."First let us ensure that villages in Maharashtra get water. Everyone has a fundamental right to live and survive," the Court remarked.The bench also highlighted that the city of Aurangabad receives potable water only once a week and asked the petitioner why he couldn't bring his own water bottle to cricket ground. "Think of the villagers who can’t afford water. Do you know that Aurangabad city gets portable once in every week. Once in every week. Why can’t you get your own water," the Court demanded.The petition was filed by advocate Rahul Tiwari who was appearing in-person. Tiwari’s contention was that the MCA should provide water to people playing cricket on its grounds."My fundamental rights are getting violated when water is not provided on the cricket ground. MCA says that it is BMC’s (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) responsibility and BMC says MCA should be providing water,” he said.The Court remarked that if the petitioner's parents could buy him cricket equipment, they could buy him bottled water as well."You are fortunate that your parents can buy you chest guard, knee guards and everything that is required for cricket. If your parents can buy you all this, then they can buy you bottled water," it said.The Court went on to say that given the issues it was dealing with - the flood in Chiplun, unauthorised construction, etc. - the case would be far down the priority list."We can’t forget about villagers who are drowned," it said.In response to Tiwari's claim that his fundamental rights were being violated, the Court asked him to consider the plight of villagers who couldn't afford water. It emphasised that the petitioner should first attend to his fundamental duties before focusing on his fundamental rights.“First take care of your fundamental duty. Have you shown compassion for living creatures? Living creatures include human beings. Have you thought about people of Chiplun or the people of Aurangabad? This will be absolutely at the bottom of priority list of the government. What have you done to fulfil your fundamental duty? We don’t want to waste time here. Please understand,” it said.The Court adjourned the case to another date while stating that the petitioner should be better prepared during the next hearing.During the previous hearing of the matter, another bench headed by Justice AK Menon had asked the Board of Control for Cricket Association (BCCI), the MCA and the State government to provide basic facilities such as toilets, drinking water and medical assistance on public grounds throughout Maharashtra even for unofficial matches.