BCCI statute can''t provide transparency, accountability: SC

New Delhi, May 3

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that the Indian cricket board's (BCCI) constitution is unworthy of providing transparency, objectivity and accountability, and added that the values can only be attained by making wholesale changes in it.

"The inherent constitution of the BCCI is highly incapable of achieving the values of transparency, objectivity and accountability... Without changing its structure, it can't be done," a Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice FM I Kalifulla said.

The remarks came after senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who was appointed as amicus curiae by the court for assistance on the issue, said the BCCI constitution could be deemed illegal if it doesn't allow those values to be achieved since the governing body is discharging a public function. "You discharge public function but you want to enjoy a private status. If you have a public persona, then you have to shed the private persona. This cannot be done. It selects the national team, it cannot be a private society. It is a public entity," Subramanium said. 

Subramanium added that had the BCCI adhered to the constitutional values, the need for Justice RM Lodha's justified recommendations for wholesale structural reforms would not have arisen. “Recommendations are in the right direction to ensure institutional integrity and adherence to constitutional values," he said.

Subramanium said that representatives of the IPL franchisees should be included in its governing council for greater transparency. He said he supports the recommendation of legalising betting in the country. The BCCI-appointed senior advocate KK Venugopal said a law needs to be passed for legalising betting. — IANS