Bring BCCI under RTI: Law Commission to Law Ministry

TIL Desk Sports/ The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should be brought under the ambit of the RTI Act, the Law Commission said on Wednesday noting that it falls under the definition of a public authority which has received substantial financing from governments.

It also 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 Right to Information Act

There have been demands to bring the cash-rich cricket body under RTI to usher in transparency. The report, submitted to the Law Ministry on Wednesday, states that BCCI ought to be classified as ‘state’ within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution “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 in view of tense international relations were made subject to government approval. The foregoing positions BCCI as a ?limb of the state’,” the law panel report said.