A law student has petitioned the Court to prohibit the holding of any cricket matches, including future IPL matches, at the stadium, claiming that it was built without the required environmental approvals.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has received a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking to prohibit any cricket matches at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Nikhil Thamman v. State & Ors., Mohali.

The cricket stadium was built in flagrant contravention of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006 and without the required environmental permits, according to the plea submitted by Nikhil Thamman, a final-year law student at UILS, Punjab University.

The plea emphasized that, in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling, prior environmental permission should have been secured from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) because the stadium was located within 10 kilometers of a bird sanctuary in Sector-21, Chandigarh. Thamman has submitted that this has not been completed.

Furthermore, it has been argued that the Department of Forest and Wildlife, Chandigarh, has not provided the necessary forest and wildlife clearance for the stadium's development.

Thamman continues by mentioning that the stadium has already hosted a number of cricket matches and competitions, including an Indian Premier League (IPL) game last month.

He has also mentioned that the stadium will host more Indian Premier League games in the near future, including games starring the Punjab Kings XI (the stadium being their home ground).

Thamman has now asked the court to order that the conduct of any future cricket matches at the stadium be restrained.

The petitioner has additionally requested that the Court order the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and other relevant parties to refrain from hosting any more IPL matches in the stadium due to the current IPL season.

Additionally, he has pleaded with the court to mandate that those in charge of permitting the stadium's unauthorized construction as well as the hosting of cricket matches there face the proper legal consequences. In addition, the petitioner has asked for an order to stop building the stadium any further.