When asked by senior editor Shekhar Gupta on his views about legalising betting, Sinha, who was on the panel of a session "Ethics and integrity in sports--need for a law and role of CBI", said there was no harm in legalising betting in the country.
"If you cannot enforce the ban on betting, it is like saying 'if you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it'", Sinha said.
(Later, CBI spokesperson gave a clarification saying the context in which the statement was made by Sinha was an opinion on legalising betting.
"A voice vote was taken from R M Sawani and cricketer Rahul Dravid and the Director, CBI, made a point if a law cannot be enforced, that does not mean that law should not be there").
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Earlier, speaking on the occasion, ace cricketer Rahul Dravid, who was special guest at the panel, said legalising betting is one subject on which call has to be taken by the law enforcement agencies.
"I think if the law enforcement authorities actually do feel that legalising betting will lead to better governance and reduce corruption then I am all for it," he said.
Sawani in his presentation said in each IPL game, legal bets from one exchange in the UK are about Rs 440 crore whereas for the tournament, bets worth Rs 66,000 crore approximately are placed which include illegal betting syndicates as well.