NEW DELHI: Observing that the BCCI was a “limb of the state”, the Law Commission today recommended that the cricket body must be brought under the ambit of the RTI Act as it falls under the definition of a public authority and cannot escape public scrutiny.
A report of the Commission while making the recommendation that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) be made accountable though it is regarded as a “private body” also noted it has received “substantial financing” from appropriate Governments in the form of tax exemptions of “thousands of crores” and land grants.
In hard-hitting observations, it said non-consideration of the role played by the BCCI as “monopolistic” in regulation of the game of cricket has resulted in the board “flying under the radar of public scrutiny, encouraged an environment of opacity and non-accountability”.
In July 2016, the Supreme Court had asked the commission to recommend whether the cricket board can be brought under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. This followed demands to bring the cash-rich cricket body under the RTI to usher in transparency.
The report, submitted to the Law Ministry today, states that the BCCI ought to be classified as ‘state’ within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution.
Noting that the conclusions of the Law Commission were only recommendations, the BCCI said it would wait for Government’s decision on the matter. (AGENCIES)
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