Meanwhile, Dev Ashish Bhattacharya, an RTI activist has alleged that the authority is not interested on recovering the dues on account of the expenditure incurred on providing security for three IPL matches.

He said the Superintendent of Police, Kangra, had in response to his RTI application given full details of the expenditure amounting to Rs 1.64 crore incurred by the police on providing security cover from May 11 to May 21, 2011. He had stated that he had sent the details to the police headquarters for necessary action.

He enquired about the matter from DGP DS Manhas who informed him that he had sent the details to the Home Department for further action. However, his latest RTI application in this regard, filed with the Home Department to know about the action taken for recovering the IPL dues had been transferred back to the DGP for providing a reply.

It was surprising as his queries were related to the home department. Besides the action taken for the recovery of dues, he had also asked whether the DGP had sent the details of IPL security expenses and, if so, he should supply a copy along with the action-taken report. He said the transfer of the application back to the DGP clearly indicated that the matter was being deliberately delayed and the government was not keen on recovering the dues.

On the other hand, CPM has urged the BJP government to first recover the money from the host Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association before allowing more matches to be held in the coming season.

Alleging a “cricket nexus” between the BJP and the Congress, the party asked the government to clarify whether it would once again bear the burden of the security cover for IPL matches, scheduled to be held in the state. On the one hand, the BJP regime was squeezing all social-security measures in the garb of resource crunch and on the other it was allowing unjustified concessions to commercial organisations like the BCCI, which was flush with funds.

Member of the state secretariat of the party, Tikender Panwar quoted the remarks of former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi that “there is no recession in the IPL” and yet the government is generous enough not to charge it for the security cover. The details of the expenditure incurred by the police were obtained by an RTI activist recently.

He said the event was a joint venture between the BCCI and the IPL on the one hand and the BJP and the Congress on the other, as was evident from the honorary degree of doctorate conferred on a BCCI official by Himachal Pradesh University. The honorary degrees were awarded by the HPU in haste even bypassing the committee constituted to look into the matter, which vehemently opposed the move. The only objective behind was to bring back the IPL to the state.