A Right to Information (RTI) activist has claimed that the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had gifted chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya 250 free passes for the premium India-West Indies T-20 semi-fi
A Right to Information (RTI) activist has claimed that the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had gifted chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya 250 free passes for the premium India-West Indies T-20 semi-final match scheduled for Thursday at Wankhede stadium in the city. RTI activist Anil Galgali points to conflict of interest in his acceptance of the free tickets. However, Mr Kshatriya has said he had not received any such gift from the MCA.
Mr Galgali alleged a letter dated February 26, 2016, written to the chief secretary by the joint secretaries of MCA, Dr P.V. Shetty and Prof. Uday Khanvilkar has said that 250 free passes had been issued for the match.
However, Kshatriya said that he had not received any such letter. “I have not even received 250 passes for the match. It is not true,” he clarified.
Last year, the MMRDA issued a notice on June 2, 2015 to MCA for violation of lease by letting out the ground at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) for commercial activities. Mr Galgali had filed an RTI query with the MMRDA seeking information about the plot allotted to the MCA in BKC last year.
The MMRDA replied that MCA was allotted plot ad-measuring 52,157 sq m on March 5, 2004 on a lease for 80 years for which MCA was charged a meagre '2.65 crore. The MMRDA also gave FSI of 1.5 on allowing 15 per cent construction on 10 per cent of the plot, 23 per cent of the plot was meant for construction of a swimming pool, tennis courts, cricket nets and similar sporting activities. The remaining 67 per cent of the land was to be kept open for regulated public use.
Similarly, a condition was there that students from all over Maharashtra be admitted to the Indoor Cricket Academy. The MCA flouted the most important terms and condition of non-commercial utilisation of the plot by entering into a commercial agreement with M/s Shirke Infrastructure, Mr Galgali alleged. The MMRDA, taking cognisance of this violation of its terms of allotment, citing the commercial agreement with M/s Shirke Infrastructure issued a notice on June 2, 2015 to MCA to take rectification steps within three months or the lease agreement would be terminated.
Mr Galgali said, “The fact cannot be overlooked that Kshatriya is chief of the executive committee of the MMRDA. How could the top brass of the Maharashtra administration fall prey to a free ticket bonanza ” The activist has also written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, asking that he conduct an enquiry to reveal the truth.
