The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) was removed from the RTI Act after the Central Information Commission (CIC) declared that the board is not a 'public authority'. The judgment was delivered by Information Commissioner P.R. Ramesh, and it effectively shields the world's richest cricket body from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the RTI regime.
For the unversed, in 2018, then-Information Commissioner M. Sridhar Acharyulu had declared the BCCI a public authority under Section 2(h) of the Act, and directed it to appoint Public Information Officers. The decision was challenged by the BCCI in the Madras High Court, which remitted the matter back to the CIC for fresh adjudication in light of Supreme Court precedents.
In the recent judgment, it was stated that theBCCIis a private body registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act and was not established by or under the Constitution nor created by any law enacted by Parliament.
“Judicial precedents, statutory interpretation, and subsequent legislative developments consistently indicate that the BCCI is neither owned, controlled, nor substantially financed, directly or indirectly, by funds provided by the appropriate Government,” held the CIC while dismissing the plea, filed by one Geeta Rani.
It further clarified that tax exemptions or other benefits available under the law cannot be treated as government funding. The Commission added that although the Supreme Court had earlier called for transparency in cricket administration, it never officially declared the BCCI a public authority under the RTI Act.
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Faham Uddin is a seasoned sports journalist currently working as a Special Correspondent on the sports desk. With over eight years of diverse experien...View More
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