Justice RM Lodha Committee and Legalising betting

On 4^th January, 2016, the Supreme Court (SC)-appointed Justice (retd) RM Lodha committee has suggested sweeping reforms in structure and functioning of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The committee was appointed in the wake of spot-fixing scandal in Indian Premier League (IPL). The committee recommendations aim to resolve issues of governance, transparency, and conflict of interest in BCCI. However, the BCCI has said that the recommendations are “not binding” on it and it will contest some of the recommendations before the SC.

The committee’s important recommendations include:

1. To curb corruption in cricket, betting in cricket should be legalised. Except players and officials, all other people should be allowed to place their bets on registered websites.
2. The BCCI, which is discharging a public function, should be brought under the Right to Information Act to share administrative and financial details with the public.
3. No official should hold a position for more than three tenures of three years each, with no two consecutive terms, and age cap should be 70. Office-bearers cannot be ministers or bureaucrats and they should distant themselves from the state association that they represent.
4. Only one association form a state shall be a full member of BCCI with voting rights. Other associations from states and boards like All India Universities, and Railway Sports Promotion Board should have only associate member status, with no voting rights.
5. President should have no role in tem selection and the zonal selection committee should be replaced with a three-member panel which will have only Test players on board.
6. The Working Committee, which is the BCCI’s highest decision making body, should be replaced with a nine-member apex panel whose members should include representatives from player’s community along with one woman. A nominee of the Comptroller and Auditor General should also be included to keep an eye on how the board’s financial resources are being utilised.
7. Three independent officials – an ethics officials, an ombudsman and election officer-should be appointed to look after dispute resolution, conflict of interest and election process respectively.
8. The IPL should be given limited autonomy by having a separate IPL governing council.
9. To safeguard interests of a player, a robust agent registration system should be put in place.

Legalising betting

Since the IPL’s spot-fixing scandal in 2013, the legalising of betting in India has been debated across various fora with arguments for and against. Surprisingly, the Lodha committee has recommended for legalising betting in India but with various safeguards. The committee believes that legalising betting will help in eradicating unethical elements in the sports. The committee, however, made a distinction between betting and fixing. While the committee supported legalising betting, it favoured criminalising fixing in cricket. The committee has recommended that players and officials should not be involved in betting but their prohibition in betting should be supported with a strong law in place. This is where the law faces stiff resistance as some states might question the applicability of national law on a state subject. While the recommendations aim to separate cricket from politics, the legalising betting could entangle in political leveraging at the state level.

Betting and gambling is a state subject in India, although it is loosely governed by the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Currently, many states prohibited betting and gambling, including lotteries. Legalising betting in sports has been a controversial topic across the world. In United States, only few states legalising sports betting. Though European countries accepted betting (particularly online betting), it continued to be regulated. In India, the main challenge to legalise betting is to deal with the stigma attached to betting among Indian citizens.

Legalising betting in sports may put a check on flow of black money into the economy and it will bring significant revenue for the government to the tune of Rs.10,000 crore annually. Legalising betting could provide an opportunity to casual sports bettors. The legal platform makes it easy for monitoring and enforcing authorities. It would help people delink from underworld because majority of the betting rockets are run by the underworld. But legalising betting may be risky as it could become catalyst for other unethical activities like spot-fixing and match-fixing. So, enforcing authorities must focus on curbing other illegal activities.

Legalising betting would work only when it is supported with required enabling mechanisms like the sports fraud legislation, strong anti-corruption units in sports bodies, cooperation for states, etc.

One-state, One-vote

Another contentious recommendation is the “one-state, one-vote” proposal.  Presently, states like Maharashtra and Gujarat have three associations representing in BCCI. Now as per the recommendations only one association is allowed to have voting rights. This will raise the question of deciding which of the associations from Maharashtra and Gujarat will be full members.