BCCI must be under RTI: Law Commission

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 18

Noting that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) falls under the definition of a public authority for being “monopolistic” in the regulation of the game of cricket in the country, the Law Commission today suggested that the sporting body should be brought under the ambit of the RTI Act. The law panel, in its report to the government, said that non-consideration of the role played by the cricket body in administering the game has resulted in the board “flying under the radar of public scrutiny, encouraged an environment of opacity and non-accountability”.

The report, which was submitted to the Ministry of Law & Justice, argued that the cash-rich BCCI “ought to be classified as ‘state’ within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution.

Incidentally, the recommendations of the Law Commission are not binding on the government.

The Commission considered the issue and prepared the report following a direction from the Supreme Court in 2016 in this regard. There have been demands to bring the apex cricket body under RTI. 

Government control 

The law panel, in its report, said an analysis of the functioning of BCCI also shows that the government does exercise control over its activities and functioning. “... BCCI, falling in line with the foreign policy of India, did not recognise a player from South Africa due to their practice of apartheid; and that the cricket matches between India and Pakistan were made subject to government approval in view of tense relations between the two nations. The foregoing positions BCCI as a ‘limb of the state’.” 

The report further pointed out that BCCI has received “substantial financing” from appropriate governments in the form of tax exemptions and land grants. “Between 1997 and 2007, the total tax exemption amounted approximately to Rs 21.7 billion. It may also be noted here that from 2007-2008 onwards, the registration of BCCI under section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as a charitable trust, was withdrawn,” it noted.

The BCCI, the report said, exercises ‘state-like’ powers affecting the fundamental rights of the stakeholders, guaranteed (in) the Constitution. “It is hereby recommended that BCCI be viewed as an agency or instrumentality of state, under Article 12 of the Constitution, thereby making it amenable to the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32,” it added.