Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the business establishments inside the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium to shut shop by September 25 for the smooth conduct of the FIFA U-17 World Cup football tournament in October.
At least 236 shop owners were asked to close down their shops from September 25 till October 28 - till the event is over.
Six league matches and one pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal each are scheduled to be held at the stadium.
After hearing all the parties, the court in its interim verdict, asked GCDA to remit Rs 25 lakh as first installment to the government treasury, which will be used to pay compensation to the shop owners for loss in business and also compensate employees who work in these shops.
The interim directive also asks that a two-member committee headed by a person holding the powers of a district judge be set up and all the shop owners have to put their estimated loss before this committee.
The committee will decide the total compensation to be paid, and if more funds are needed then the GCDA will have to remit that amount too, which will be given to the shop owners.
The court pointed out that if any shop owner is unhappy with the compensation amount, then they are free to approach a civil court of law.
(With inputs from IANS)
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