MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is covered under the Right To Information (Act) and answerable to the people of the country under its mechanism, the Central Information Commission (CIC) announced on Monday.
The commission, the top appellate body in RTI matters, went through the law, orders of the Supreme Court, the Law Commission of India report, submissions of the Central Public Information Officer in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to conclude that the status, nature and functional characteristics of the BCCI fulfil required conditions of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
“The SC has also reaffirmed that the BCCI is the approved’ national-level body holding virtually monopoly rights to organize cricketing events in the country,” Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said in a 37-page order.
He directed the President and Committee of Administrators to designate deserving officers as central public information officers, central assistant public information officers and first appellate authorities as required under the law. Acharyulu has given the BCCI 15 days to put online and offline mechanisms in place to receive applications for information under the RTI Act.
The matter came before him as the Sports Ministry did not give a satisfactory response to an RTI applicant, Geeta Rani, who had sought to know the provisions and guidelines under which the BCCI has been representing India and selecting players for the country.
The BCCI should be listed as a NSF covered under the RTI Act. The RTI Act should be made applicable to the BCCI along with its entire constituent member cricketing associations, provided they fulfill the criteria applicable to the BCCI, as discussed in the Law Commission’s report, he stated.
Not surprisingly, the CIC’s ruling has brought the knives out against the Vinod Rai led Committee of Administrators (COA) who have been accused of “wilful negligence” in dealing with the matter.
“I believe there has been wilful negligence on part of the COA in botching up BCCI’s right to legal representation,” a senior BCCI official, while talking about the legal ramifications of the CIC order, told newswire PTI.
“There was a CIC hearing on July 10 when it was asked as to why BCCI shouldn’t come under the RTI? The BCCI didn’t even file a reply and sat on the show-cause notice. Now the only way is to challenge the order in High Court and take it from there on,” the official said.
Another BCCI official said the COA, comprising Rai and Diana Edulji, might just “tie the albatross of RTI” around the board’s neck before announcing elections. “We hear that BCCI wants to partially come under the RTI and not reveal things like team selection and all? Is it a joke? If BCCI challenges, there won’t be any half measures. It will be all or nothing,” he said.
Rai, on his part, said the COA is committed to ensuring transparency in the board but steered clear of any direct comment on the CIC order. “In continuance of the CIC order, we would like to convey that we wholeheartedly support transparency and have created a robust platform in the form of the website. Through this medium, we have been putting our processes and decisions out in public domain,” a statement issued by Rai after the CIC order reads.
“Our website is becoming more vibrant with increased emphasis on openness and accountability. The COA is committed to probity and openness in the BCCI and have introduced good governance with professional administration.
“Lastly, I am passionate and totally dedicated to set up an edifice of good governance which will be premised on probity, transparency and ethical standards,” the statement adds.
