RTI will apply to BCCI: Justice Mudgal

New Delhi: The BCCI will have to come under the ambit of Right to Information Act if it wants to use `India` as its national team`s name, Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the committee constituted to draft the Sports Development Bill 2013, said on Monday.

Justice Mudgal said that all the sports bodies, including the BCCI, will have to come under the RTI once the Bill is passed by the Parliament. "RTI will apply to all sports bodies and even cricket will come under it. Apart from a few exemptions like one cannot raise questions regarding why a particular player/coach is selected over another, or the contents of a player`s contract, medical health and fitness etc, the public is authorised to raise questions," said Justice Mudgal at a media interaction to discuss the contents of the draft Bill. The working group also includes eminent sportspersons like Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra and former India hockey skipper Viren Rasquinha, sports administrators and legal experts. "If the BCCI refuses to come under the ambit of the RTI then they cannot send the national team under the tag `India`," said sports expert Boria Mazumdar during the interaction. Important provisions in the draft Bill include setting up of an Appellate Sports Tribunal and a Sports Election Commission, barring of charge-sheeted persons under the Criminal Procedure Code (section 228) from contesting elections. The draft Bill also provides for the constitution of an Athletes Commission and NOC/NSFs functioning as a public authority under the RTI and submission of report to the Parliament; setting up of an Ethics Commission which will enforce a Code of Ethics in accordance with the International Olympic Committee`s code and principles, enshrined in the Constitution of India. PTI