Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan is no fan of the Indian Premier League night cricket. He on Monday said it prods people, ?60,000 to 70,000 of them filled in a stadium?, towards all play and no work.
?Some of these stadiums have 60,000 to 70,000 people. All these people who watch IPL cricket at night time do not want to go for work the next morning. They only watch cricket during the nights without doing any work during daytime,? Chief Justice Balakrishnan ticked off litigant Subhas Dutta in open court.
Dutta, in all ?good faith?, had appeared before the Chief Justice with a ?novel idea? that the apex court should intervene for a change in IPL schedules from night-time to morning hours. He said he believes that this is the answer to ?save power? and rescue the country from an ?impending energy crisis?.
?Besides,? Dutta, who presented his case without a lawyer, said ?this game of small ball can be played better in day light.?
In his petition, Dutta portrayed a dark picture of the ?increasing demands for power?, telling the court how it is ?extremely urgent that each individual should count his own footprint towards ecological imbalances and try to make day-to-day life more eco-friendly?.
But the Chief Justice did not agree: ?Let them go and watch cricket matches, we cannot do anything on this?.
The Bench, including the Chief Justice and Justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan, felt hardly any work is done during the day after an IPL match, and shifting match schedules to morning time will mean zero-attendance at work. The court dismissed the petition.
Later, outside the court, Dutta said: ?I am from Kolkata. There even the Governor switches off his lights after dark to save power. I simply wanted a change in the schedule, I still don?t understand why he told me about the 60,000 people in a stadium. I will not give up. I will file this again after he retires,? he said.