Tickets for Chennai Super Kings’ last match at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday have been sold out. Yet, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is doubtful of a full house as three stands with 13,000 seats are under “lock and seal” of the Chennai Municipality for being an unauthorised construction.
With less than 24 hours remaining for the match, a desperate TNCA approached the apex court on Monday to set aside the May 12 seal order and allow the match to go on.
The vacation bench of Justices BS Chauhan and Dipak Misra will take up the matter on Tuesday. With CSK roaring at the top of the points table in the IPl season this year, the last thing the Association would want is a backlash from angry fans who have booked their tickets in advance for the stands ‘I’, ‘J’ and ‘K’. Each of the three stands include an upper and lower tier besides hospitality boxes (air conditioned spectator galleries) for which 2,500 complimentary passes have been distributed by sponsors.
The TNCA owns and maintains the MAC stadium, home to domestic and international cricket since 1972. To pep up the facilities at the stadium in line with the International Cricket Council standards, the General Body of TNCA took a decision in June 2009 to demolish six stands as part of the first phase of the renovation bid. Initial permission to demolish the three stands in question — I,J and K — was obtained from the Central and State agencies.
When fresh construction of the stands was undertaken, TNCA was slapped with a demolition notice by the Chennai Corporation under Section 56 of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act on August 8, 2011. The State cricket association went to Madras High Court and got an order in its favour on February 6, 2013. But fortunes reversed in the Supreme Court, where the Corporation appealed and obtained an ex-parte stay of the High Court order on May 10. Two days later, fresh lock and seal orders were issued.
With the matter resting in the Supreme Court, the interim relief sought by TNCA would be anxiously awaited by all cricket-loving persons in Chennai. The MAC stadium has a total seating capacity of 39,000, and ahead of the Wednesday clash the three stands have been fully sold out.