The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Board of Control for Cricket in India whether it is accountable to the Government and the nature of its affiliation to the International Cricket Council.

A division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice DK Jain asked the BCCI counsel Kapil Sibal to give details on these aspects by July 25 after Additional Solicitor General KK Sud said the Centre had no control over the Board. "We had asked during the last hearing also that when the team selected by the BCCI to play matches with other countries is called as the Indian team, how can the Board say that it is not accountable to the Government of India," the Bench asked.

"If you (BCCI) is affiliated to the ICC, what control has the ICC on the Board and what is the status of the Boards of other countries with regard to the ICC," the Bench asked Sibal while seeking reply on these aspects.

The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by two cricket fans - Rahul Mehra and Shantanu Sharma - in the wake of the match fixing scandal in New Delhi. While accusing the Board of mismanaging the affairs of cricket in the country, they had sought a probe into the functioning of BCCI.

Submitting an affidavit on behalf of the Union Sports Ministry, Sud said "as per information provided by the BCCI no grant by way of funds, or allotment of land for stadia are being given to it by the Centre or any state Government."

However, Mehra arguing the matter personally said the information furnished by the BCCI to the ministry was not "true" as the Government had leased land worth crores of rupees to the Board in various cities at a very low price.

The Sports Ministry said the BCCI is an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act responsible for overall promotion of the game of cricket in the country. As per the information received from the England and Wales Cricket Board, the ECB is a limited company formed under the Companies Act, it said adding that information from other cricket playing countries was still awaited.

The PIL alleged that the BCCI and its member associations had been functioning in an "arbitrary and opaque manner" without any accountability to the Government for their actions and the accounts.

Seeking audit of BCCI's accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the petitioner alleged that the Board was spending less money on promotion of the game than on other activities, while the Income Tax Department had granted various exemptions to it.

The PIL stated that while the BCCI's annual income had grown at an average of 28 per cent during the past several years, it had shown expenditure on the game at a relatively low average of 21 per cent per annum.

The Ministry admitted that the BCCI had been granted exemption from income tax through a notification issued by the Government in July 1996.

The Board was also being exempted from entertainment tax by state governments when matches were organised in their territories, it said.

© PTI