Hindustan Times: New Delhi: Wednesday,
December 07, 2016.
Law
commission of India has begun proceedings to examine the feasibility of
legalising betting in sports and also bringing the Board of Control for Cricket
in India under the RTI Act.
“We are
examining all legal aspects of betting in sports,” Justice (retired) Balbir
Singh Chauhan, Chairman, Law Commission of India, told HT. “Once we make up our
mind and prepare a skeleton in what direction we should proceed and what legal
problems may arise, we will write to all the stakeholders.”
In its July
18 verdict ratifying the Justice RM Lodha Committee report on reforms in the
BCCI, the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice FM
Kalifulla had suggested that the law commission should examine the legality in
both the cases and make its recommendation to the government.
Both the
panels appointed by Supreme Court in the wake of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing
scandal, the initial one headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal as well as the Lodha
panel have recommended that sports betting should be legalised.
The SC’s July
18 verdict reads: “The recommendation made by the Committee that betting should
be legalised by law involves the enactment of a law which is a matter that may
be examined by the Law Commission and the Government for such action as it may
consider necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case.”
Justice
Chauhan said: “In many countries betting in sports is legal but situations are
different there. We will study all the aspects.”
A 2012 report
by international audit and professional services organisation KPMG valued the
Indian sports betting market at a whopping Rs 300,000 crore. If made legal, the
government, by levying a possible 20 percent tax on profit, can earn revenue
between Rs 12,000 to 19,000 crore a year. Currently, only betting on horse
racing is legal in India.
The Mudgal
panel report was submitted to the Apex court, based on which the Lodha panel
was appointed in January, 2015. It was tasked with suggesting reforms in the
BCCI and taking action against Chennai Super Kings official, Gurunath
Meiyappan, and Rajasthan Royals co-owner, Raj Kundra.
While
declaring BCCI a ‘public body’, the Apex court had observed that as a possible
first step in the direction to bring BCCI under the purview of Right to
Information Act, it expected the Law Commission to examine the issue and
recommend to the government.
“The study to
bring the BCCI under RTI is also under process. We are studying BCCI’s case and
consulting some experts also,” Justice Chauhan said. “We are also writing to
stake-holders. We have not written to the BCCI, but we will surely listen to
them if they come to us.”
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