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Govt. collecting material on BCCI's functioning

The government today sought two weeks' time to file its response to a public interest petition seeking independent investigation into the functioning and accounts of the Board of Control for Cricket in India over the past five years.

Ms Pratibha Singh, appearing for government counsel Maninder Singh, told a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice D.K. Jain that the government is collecting material to file its reply.

The judges fixed July 12 for the next hearing. Other respondents in the case are the Delhi and District Cricket Association and the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs.

The PIL calls for ensuring that BCCI accounts are audited transparently by the Comptroller of Audit General and promotion of cricket is the primary function. It said that they should not function as private empires of some businessmen and traders who have come to control and abuse cricket for their own interest and profit.

The BCCI and DDCA have acquired a monopoly status by virtue of government recognition and patronage; only five per cent of 3,500 DDCA members have ever played cricket, the PIL added.

Petitioners Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma said accounts show that the DDCA recorded sales of Rs 33 lakh on liquor in 1998-99 which is nearly five times the total expenses on coaching and promotion of cricket over the past 11 years.

It said that the BCCI spent Rs 65 lakh for committee meetings in the same year and Rs 40 lakh for travel, they said. But coaching expenses were less than 2.2 per cent of the expenditure.

The BCCI profits have been climbing at the rate of 59 per cent per year and totalled Rs 8.37 crore in 1998-99 compared to Rs 5.06 lakh in 1987-88, it said.

Listing several instances of discrepancies in sale of television rights by the BCCI, the PIL said there is no transparency in the manner in which bids are invited and contracts awarded.

''The politics prevailing in the BCCI has almost led to seriously harming the entire selection process of the national cricket team. It is reported to have resulted in ruining the career of some capable cricketers,'' it added.

The PIL said that organisers like the BCCI are under public obligation to promote cricket. If they act contrary to the objects for which they are created and in the private interest of people who currently control these organisations, the court should issue direction to enforce these obligations.

UNI