CIC says BCCI should come under the RTI Act

  • In its latest order dated June 16, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has urged the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to bring the organisation under the RTI Act.
  • In a previous order on June 9, the CIC had elaborately explained the need for making BCCI a public authority.
  • In a previous order on June 9, the CIC had elaborately explained the need for making BCCI a public authority.
  • The latest order states that the Sports Minister had told the Lok Sabha in 2012 that BCCI was a National Sports Federation for cricket, which received thousands of crores towards tax concessions.
  • Thus it has to come under the RTI in order to remain accountable to the public. The CIC in its order has asked the PMO, the Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Sports Ministry as to why RTI was not being implemented by the organisation.

Court rulings

  • The CIC order states that in April 2010, the government had declared all the National Sports Federations (NSF)s receiving a grant of ₹ 10 lakh or more as a Public Authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI, 2005.
  • It lists the thousands of crores of tax exemptions the organisation received on its income.
  • It also cites the fact that the BCCI has tacit recognition or approval/ sanction from the government for selecting the Indian team, which gave it complete monopoly with deep and all-pervasive control over the sport of cricket in India.

RTI Act:

Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. It replaces the erstwhile Freedom of information Act, 2002.

  • Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days.
  • The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.
  • The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right to Information Act is in force.
  • Private bodies are not within the Act’s ambit directly. In a decision of Sarbajit Roy versus Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Central Information Commission affirmed that privatised public utility companies continue to be within the RTI Act.

CIC:

The Central Information Commission (CIC) is set up under the Right to Information Act and is the authorised body, established in 2005, under the Government of India.

  • The Chief Information Commissioner heads the Central Information Commission. CIC hears appeals from information-seekers who have not been satisfied by the public authority, and also addresses major issues concerning the RTI Act.
  • The Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of:
  1. The Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee.
  2. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
  3. A Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

Source:TH

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