Mumbai, May 5: The Bombay high court directed Wednesday that the Centre and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar be made parties to a public interest litigation case on the levy of entertainment tax on Indian Premier League matches.

The court, raising questions over a possible “conflict of interest” if a minister was a member of a cricketing body, allowed the petitioners to make Mr Pawar a party to the case.
The Bombay high court also allowed the petitioner to bring former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and incumbent Chirayu Amin into the case, which will now be heard on June 22.
Senior BCCI counsel Raju Subramaniam clarified that Mr Pawar currently had no connection with the Board of Control for Cricket in India or Indian Premier League, though he headed the cricketing body two years ago when the IPL was started.
The Bombay high court sought the Centre’s view on whether any “conflict of interest” arose if a minister was a member of a cricketing body.
 

Age Correspondent