With the match-fixing scandal allegedly involving a team owner and relative of the Indian cricket board president in the backdrop, the law ministry has drafted the Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill, 2013 after studying the laws of many countries, a top legal official said Sunday.
"This is a comprehensive bill for preventing sporting fraud and to combat frauds in relation to domestic national land international sporting event. This bill has been drafted after studying the laws of different countries especially from European Union like Denmark, Finland, Germany etcetera. Australian model is so far the best," Mohan Parasaran, solicitor general of India said in his address at a conference here on "Regulating Sports Betting and Sports Law", organised by industry chamber FICCI.
"There have been serious deliberations on insider information and sporting fraud, manipulation or attempt to manipulate sports results, and irrespective of whether the outcome is actually altered or not, will be a jail crime," Parasaran said.
"Punishment for different categories of offenses with fine up to three to five times the economic benefit derived from the guilty is mentioned in the bill," he added.
The bill also has a provision of monetary fines of Rs.one million, or five times the economic benefit derived by a guilty person from sporting fraud, depending upon whichever is greater.
However, disclosing inside information that could be used for betting or manipulation of a sporting event shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of not more than three years or a fine of Rs.500,000, or three times the economic benefits derived by a person from sporting fraud, whichever is greater.
--Indo-Asian news Service
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