rediff.com: CBI questions two in match-fixing

The Central Bureau of Investigation Friday questioned two persons who filed a Public Interest Litigation in a High Court, alleging that the Board for Control of Cricket in India is functioning in an arbitrary and non-transparent manner, and without any accountability.

The two -- Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma -- were asked by the CBI to appear before its special crime branch to throw light on the match-fixing scandal in cricket.

"We have given a broad outline to the agency sleuths about match-fixing, inside details of fixing in respect of granting of television rights and functioning of the BCCI," Sharma said, as he emerged out of the meeting after almost an hour.

Sharma said the present picture of the board is very discouraging for cricket lovers of the country and claimed that the BCCI had spent Rs 65 lakh under the committee expenses head but spent less than Rs 17 lakh on cricket promotion.

Mehra informed that he and Sharma provided the agency with some proof which could lead them to more concrete evidence "so that the culprits are brought to book."

He said although the BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world it produced the world's saddest team. "We are demanding a thorough probe as 80 per cent of the country's population are cricket fans," he said.

The duo are optimistic about positive results from the ongoing investigations by CBI. They said: "We want that the BCCI should have members from the game and not business individuals."

Asked what had transpired between them and the CBI officials, they said: "We have handed over several documents to them, about allotment of television rights for the game and a rough idea about match-fixing in the game.

"Besides this, we have informed the agency about cricket matches in off-shore countries, where the risk of match-fixing is very high."

In their PIL, the two have sought audit of the BCCI and other member associations' accounts by Comptroller and Auditor General.

The PIL alleges a wide gap between the board's income and expenditure since the 1987 World Cup, played in the subcontinent.

"The revenue from 1987, which was Rs five lakh, has seen a sharp rise to Rs 8.35 crore in 1999," the two claimed.

"Revenue appears to have increased at an average rate of about 28 per cent per annum, while expenditure has shown a relatively sluggish growth of 21 per cent per annum," the petition, which will come up for hearing on July 12, says.


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