By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 17 Feb: Uttarakhand Government has taken control of all operations of the Rajeev Gandhi International Cricket Stadium from the firm that had been handed the control of the stadium. It may be recalled that Dehradun Integrated Arena Ltd (DIAL) was the firm that had been authorised by the government to operate the stadium. However, it failed to comply with the instructions of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). As a result, the state government has got the stadium property vacated from Dehradun Integrated Arena Ltd and now the control of all operations related to the stadium are back with the state government.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has given instructions to strengthen sports infrastructure facilities in the state. The sports department claims that the decision has been taken in pursuance of the instructions of the CM and that it will also help in the conservation of sports assets in the state and successful organisation of the upcoming National Games. It is known that Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium was given to M/s ITUAL on the basis of tender for which it had constituted Dehradun Integrated Arena Ltd. Company and formed a contract for maintenance and operation with the state government in May, 2018.
During the Covid pandemic period, the said company had filed a case in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for insolvency due to lack of sufficient financial resources to operate the stadium. For this purpose, Ansul Pathania was appointed by NCLT as Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to finalise a resolution plan in this issue. In the month of November, 2023, orders were issued by NCLT accepting the resolution plan of M/s Triver Enterprises. But the said company neither obtained approval from the state government as a new operating agency nor opened an escrow account as per the original contractual terms, nor provided the required bank guarantee, but received funds for bookings from various institutions for organising programmes in the stadium.
After the decision of NCLT, a notice was given to Dehradun Integrated Arena Ltd as per the terms of the contract that had been finalised on 12 December, 2023 for not following the rules of the contract, cognisance of which was not taken by them and even after asking for time for the meeting, the representatives did not come for the meeting. Not only this, some booking organisations which had paid to the company for booking the stadium also lodged FIR in Raipur police station against the booking being done by the new organisation. In this regard, the investigation is in progress by the police.
Finally, yet another notice of vacation was issued to Dehradun Integrated Arena Ltd by the government on 13 February this year and ultimately, the property has been got vacated from the possession of Dehradun Integrated Arena Ltd and taken control of by the government today ostensibly in the interest of conservation of the state and property.
