HC seeks clarification on BCCI's status

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought details from the Centre and Board for Control of Cricket in India about the status of the latter as an autonomous body, and the facilities being given to it by the government.

The BCCI was also directed to furnish whether it is getting any assistance from the Centre, financial or otherwise, and the status of cricket bodies in other countries vis-a-vis any control over them by their respective governments.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D K Jain directed the government and BCCI to file detailed affidavits clarifying these aspects by February 14, the next date of hearing of a Public Interest Litigation seeking an independent probe into the BCCI's functioning and accounts.

The PIL, filed by advocate Rahul Mehra, alleges that the BCCI is mismanaging the affairs of cricket in the country and spending a very small amount of its earnings on development of the game. The petitioner has also sought an investigation into the working of state cricket bodies.

As BCCI counsel K K Venugopal said the board is an independent body without any control of the government, the bench asked whether the team sent by it to play matches with other countries was an Indian team or a team representing the board in the strict legal term.

If the board's contention that it is an autonomous body, without any government control, is accepted, could it be able to send the team to Pakistan when the government has decided not to do so?, the court asked.

The court wanted to know what are the powers of the government in respect of the BCCI, when Venugopal said no PIL against the board could be entertained because it is not a government organisation.

Referring to the court's query regarding the board's capacity to decide about sending the team to Pakistan or any other country, Venugopal said: "As citizens of the country, we have to abide by a decision taken by our government, though we have an authority to challenge it in the court of law."

The BCCI counsel admitted the government provided it land at concessional rates to build stadia in various parts of the country.

Mehra said the government has delegated certain functions to the BCCI and it could not claim that no PIL lies against any of its actions. Besides, he said, the board is getting several subsidies including concession in income tax, and the government has to spend huge amounts on making police arrangements for matches organised by the BCCI.

Mehra, in the PIL, has alleged that the BCCI and its member associations had been functioning in an "arbitrary and opaque" manner without any accountability for their actions and even their accounts.

Seeking a special audit of the BCCI accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the PIL alleged that a wide gap existed between the board's income and expenditure since the 1987 World Cup, played in the subcontinent.

"Revenues appear to have increased at an average rate of about 28 per cent per annum, while expenditures have shown a relatively sluggish growth of 21 per cent per annum," Mehra said during the arguments.

Mail Cricket Editor