The Bombay High Court on Thursday ruled in favour of holding the first Indian Premier League match in Mumbai's Wankhede stadium on April 9. However, there was no verdict on whether the other 18 matches to be held in Maharashtra will have to be shifted out of the state, Times Now reported.

The court also asked the state to file a reply on the matter by April 12, and directed the Maharashtra government to investigate from where the Board of Control for Cricket in India gets the rest of the water to maintain pitches, if the government supplies it with only 22,000 litres. The high court was hearing several petitions that sought for the Twenty20 tournament matches to be shifted out of Maharashtra.

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While hearing a plea filed by Marathi daily Loksatta, Justice Kanade questioned how the game could be given priority when people were dying from lack of water. He also directed the acting attorney general of the state to ensure that water is provided to people. The Maharashtra Cricket Association also submitted an affidavit on the water used during IPL matches, but advocate Arshil Shah, who was representing the newspaper, argued that the document did not mention the source of the water, ANI reported.

The MCA's lawyer clarified that the water used to maintain the pitches was not drinkable and used only for watering the ground and for sanitation purposes. He said that they require less water during the Twenty20 tournament because pitches are kept dry on match days. He also questioned the timing of the petitions and why they were filed days before the tournament was set to begin, when the schedule was announced in advance.

On Wednesday, the court had pulled up the Mumbai and Maharashtra cricket associations for the water they plan to use to prepare pitches for the upcoming tournament, calling it a “criminal wastage” at a time when the state was plagued by severe drought.