NEW DELHI: Based on the Lodha panel recommendations and Supreme Court directives, the Law Commission of India is now evaluating possibilities of legalising betting in the country.
Law Commission member secretary Dr Sanjay Singh has sought opinions from the Board of Control For Cricket’s (BCCI) state associations and will be preparing a report to be submitted to the court, says a report in the New Indian Express.
“The Law Commission considers that the view of your association will be valuable in formulating its recommendations on betting. May I add here that keeping in view the intertwining nature of betting and gambling, the Commission has decided to consider the examination of both….I would request you to forward the views of your association on the matter at the earliest,” says the letter.
The report indicates that while some state associations seem keen to call meetings to take a call on the issue, others are not treating the issue as seriously. Some have expressed the view that legalising betting will do little to stop the problem of match fixing.
The issue of legalisation of betting came to the fore after the IPL spot-fixing case in 2013. A panel headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, who has headed the IPL spot-fixing and betting probe, also spoke about the issue, and Mudgal himself called for betting in cricket to be made legalised in the country, saying it would help prevent corruption in cricket.
The Supreme Court, while hearing the BCCI case in July last year, had agreed to look into the issue.
