Under scrutiny

Under scrutiny

Context

The proposal to bring the BCCI under the RTI reflects rising public expectation 

What has happened?

The Lodha Committee recommended that the board be treated as a public authority under the RTI Act, and the Supreme Court wanted the Law Commission to examine this suggestion. The Central Information Commission favoured the idea

A Public body

BCCI is a private body that needs no financial help from the government, it is being increasingly recognised that it performs significant public functions.

Not working in a transparent manner       

• Over the years, the popular expectation that India’s cash-rich and commercially successful apex cricket body will have to make itself more transparent and accountable has been rising
• In recent years, especially against the backdrop of the betting scandal that hit the Indian Premier League tournament a few years ago, the view that the cricket board is functioning in an opaque manner and not entirely in the game’s interest has gained ground

Lodha Committee

• The Supreme Court’s intervention led to the constitution of the Justice R.M. Lodha Committee, which recommended sweeping reforms in the board’s structure and the rules governing its administration
• The monopolistic nature of the power exercised by BCCI, the de facto recognition afforded by the Government, the impact of the Board’s actions/decisions on the fundamental rights of the players, umpires and the citizenry in general
• The board gets no financial help directly, but the commission has argued that the tax and duty exemptions and land concessions it got would amount to indirect financing by the state.

A National Sports Federation (NSF)?

• The Union government has on different occasions maintained that the BCCI is a ‘national sports federation’ and, therefore, an entity that falls under the RTI Act’s ambit.
• However, the BCCI is not one of the national federations listed on the website of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

Conclusion

• It is unlikely that by bringing BCCI under RTI would affect its autonomy
• In fact, as a complement to the structural revamp, it may redound to the game’s interest