The Central Information Commission ruled on Monday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is covered under the RTI Act and answerable to the people of the country under its mechanism. The Central Information Commission is the top appellate body in  the matters of RTI and went through the law, orders of the Supreme Court, the Law Commission of India report.

It also checked the submissions of the Central Public Information Officer in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

According to the Commission, this was done in order to conclude that the nature, status and functional characteristics of the BCCI fulfill required conditions of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.

Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said in a 37-page long order said that the SC has also reaffirmed that the BCCI is the approved national-level body holding virtually monopoly rights to organise cricketing events in the country.

He directed the president, secretary and Committee of Administrators to designate deserving officers as central public information officers, central assistant public information officers and first appellate authorities as required under the law.

BCCI has been directed by Acharyulu to put in place, within 15 days, online and offline mechanisms to receive applications for information under the RTI Act.

Geeta Rani, an RTI applicant, who had sought to know the provisions and guidelines under which the BCCI has been representing India and selecting players for the country, did not receive a satisfactory response the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and this is when the matter came to light before Acharyulu.

“The BCCI should be listed as a NSF covered under the RTI Act. The RTI Act should be made applicable to the BCCI along with its entire constituent member cricketing associations, provided they fulfil the criteria applicable to the BCCI, as discussed in the Law Commission's report,” he said. (With Agency Inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2018 11:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).