BCCI and cricket associations from Maharashtra today came under severe criticism from Bombay High Court which said in view of the grim water crunch in the state due to drought, it would be better to shift the Indian Premier League matches outside the state. A division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade said it was the state government's responsibility to impose restraint on use of water during drought. <br/><br/>He said that priority as per state water policy must be adhered to and the policy gives first priority to providing drinking water to people. Deferring the matter until tomorrow, the bench asked the State Government to declare its stand on what steps it had planned to take on the issue. The bench was hearing a petition filed by a non-government organisation which challenged use of 60 lakh litres of water to maintain pitches at three stadiums in the state where IPL matches would be held from 9th of April. <br/><br/>The high court, while hearing this petition, had yesterday sought responses from the respondents including Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Vidarbha Cricket Association, Maharashtra government and the civic bodies of Mumbai and Nagpur. Notably, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla had yesterday ruled out shifting the matches out of Maharashtra on account of the drought and water scarcity.