Hold BCCI accountable for IPL mess, demands Gill

NEW DELHI: Union sports and youth affairs minister M S Gill on Thursday sought to make the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) accountable for the Indian Premier League (IPL) mess, telling Parliament that it was time the premier sports body provided “answers to India”.

Mr Singh also raised questions about the tax exemptions given to BCCI, one of the richest cricketing bodies in the world.

Speaking at the end of a debate in the Rajya Saba on the workings of his ministry, Mr Gill told the House that the government was “watching very carefully” the affairs of the IPL. “IPL is under radar, we are watching very carefully. Its affairs are being looked into with great details,” Mr Gill said.

The sports minister also made a strong attack on the BCCI itself and called for the body to be made accountable to the country. He charged the sports body with taking over “everything” to do with cricket in India after it got rich in the last 10-15 years. He also questioned the tax exemptions given to BCCI.

“There should be no let off for any body,” the minister said, pointing out that state governments were also giving away tax sops to different cricketing events. He said BCCI could not be the “owner, selector and regulator” of the Indian team as there was a conflict of interest involved.

During the debate, members from both the Treasury and Opposition sides came down heavily on the IPL. While Congress’ Jayanthi Natarajan said that IPL had given birth to “crony capitalism” and the “worst (example) of corporate governance” and demanded that it should be handled by the sports ministry.

Ms Natarajan also pointed out that BCCI got large tax exemptions and attacked it for lacking accountability, responsibility and transparency.

“We should not allow vested interests to continue,” she said. Among the others who spoke, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi demanded a ban on IPL for three years and demanded a CBI probe against IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. He alleged that Mr Modi had earned crores of rupees through the IPL tournaments.

BJP’s Prakash Javadekar used the debate to attack Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel in connection with the on-going controversy.
Kamal Akhtar (SP) demanded a CBI inquiry into the allegations, while Saman Pathak (CPM) sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe.

Among the others who participated in the discussion were Congress V Hanumantha Rao who took the line that there was no need to regulate the IPL. MV Mysura Reddy of TDP said the IPL required a JPC probe to check its misuse. RC Singh of CPI demanded to know why only Rs 300 crore of the IPL funds went to government when it generated Rs 4,500 crore and stressed the need to book the guilty.