SC refuses to stall Delhi ODI

The Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition filed by Anil Aggarwal, on behalf of the Society for Safe Structures, challenging the holding of the One-Day International between India and Pakistan at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi on April 17 on the grounds that the venue is unsafe as it is still under construction.

A division bench of Justice Y K Sabbarwal and Justice D M Dharmadhikari pulled up the petitioner for filing the petition at the last minute and refused to stall the match.

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Allowing match to go ahead, the apex court said the authorities would address the security concerns expressed in the petition.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf are expected to watch next Sunday's match, the last in the ongoing series.

The court also accepted the affidavits filed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in this respect. The MCD, in its reply, said its team of engineers, who inspected the venues, were satisfied with the safety of the structure.

Aggarwal denied that he filed the petition to get publicity by trying to stop the high profile match.

Arun Jaitley, former law minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, told rediff.com that the stadium is totally safe and the match would be held without any hindrance.