PIL before Punjab and Haryana High Court to stop cricket matches at Mullanpur stadium

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court to restrain the conduct of any cricket matches at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium at Mullanpur. Mohali [Nikhil Thamman v State & Ors]..The plea filed by Nikhil Thamman, a final-year law student of UILS, Panjab University, stated that the cricket stadium was constructed without necessary environmental clearances and in blatant violation of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006..The plea highlighted that the stadium fell within 10 kilometers of a bird sanctuary in Sector-21, Chandigarh, which meant that prior environmental clearance ought to have been obtained from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in line with a Supreme Court directive. This has not been done, Thamman has submitted. It has further been contended that an essential forest and wildlife clearance from the Department of Forest and Wildlife, Chandigarh, has not been obtained for the construction of the stadium. .Thamman goes on to recount that several cricket matches and tournaments have already been conducted at the stadium, including a Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match last month. He has further noted that more IPL matches are scheduled to be conducted at the stadium soon, featuring the Punjab Kings XI team (for which the stadium falls on home-ground). .Thamman has now prayed that the Court issue directions to restrain the conduct any more cricket matches at the stadium. In view of the ongoing IPL season, the petitioner has also called on the Court to direct the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) and others responsible to not host further IPL matches at the stadium..Further, he has urged the Court to order for appropriate legal action to be taken against those authorities who allowed the unauthorised construction of the stadium and for allowing cricket matches to be held at such an arena. Moreover, the petitioner has sought for a direction to halt any further construction of the stadium. .The petition has been filed through advocates Sunaina, Abhishek Khurana and Narinder Singh.