Centre to examine whether to legalise betting in cricket: SC

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre and the Law Commission to examine the Justice R M Lodha committee's recommendation to legalise betting in cricket.
A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice F M I Kalifulla, which accepted majority of the recommendations of Justice R M Lodha panel on reforms in BCCI, said that since this issue involves enactment of a law, it should be examined by the government.
"So also the recommendation made by the Committee that betting should be legalised by law, involves the enactment of a law which is a matter that may be examined by Law Commission and Government for such action as it may consider necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case," it said.

While reading out the operative portion of the verdict, the CJI said that the bench was leaving it to Parliament to decide whether to legalise betting in cricket or not.
Dealing with the "menace" of match-fixing and betting, the panel had noted that there is a fundamental difference between betting and match or spot fixing.
"While the latter interferes with the integrity of the game and attempts to change the course of the match, the former is a general malaise indulged by different sections of the society not only with reference to cricket but other games also," the committee had said.

It had considered match or spot-fixing as "unpardonable" and had opined that only way to deal with it effectively was to make it punishable by law.
Regarding betting, the panel had taken the view that betting by administrators, players, match officials, team officials, owners and others, should continue to be an offence under the BCCI and IPL rules and regulations.
It had recommended that young players and debutants should be educated and sensitised about the game ethics. It had also recommended preparation of a database of undesirable elements, like bookies or fixers, to be shared with players and team officials.