High Court limits number of complimentary tickets

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) to limit the number of complimentary passes for each of the four World Cup games to be played at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium to 10,000. The stadium has a capacity of 41,000.

Justice Sunil Gaur said the association should make sure the remaining passes for Thursday's game between West Indies and South Africa were available online for the "general public who want to book it," according to the Times of India. The court issued its directive while hearing a case filed by Jai Karan Singh, one of the DDCA's oldest members, who has challenged the "arbitrary ways" in which the association's executive committee has been issuing complimentary tickets.

The order calls for the DDCA to make sure in the future it sells 30,000 tickets online and at general outlets throughout Delhi. "A total of 3,000 passes should be kept at the stadium gate so that match viewers can buy from there on the day of match also," the order said. "Five thousand tickets should be sent to various banks in Delhi so that the cricket lovers can buy them there." The order also directs the association to make sure all the prices are available online.

Singh had argued that the executive committee issued free passes "at their whim and fancy for getting personal benefits not connected with the promotion of game of cricket". He claimed that selling these tickets deprived the DDCA of revenue when they were already operating at a loss.

The executive committee denied issuing free passes and said it was only in response to certain "firm commitments". The committee also defended giving free tickets to officials of the Delhi government, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, traffic police and other civic agencies, saying they had to be "rewarded" for their cooperation and support.

The Kotla is scheduled to host four games during the World Cup, beginning with today's game between South Africa and West Indies. The other three are: West Indies v Netherlands on February 28, Kenya v Canada on March 7 and India v Netherlands on March 9.