New Delhi, Nov 10: Sports Minister Ajay Maken today said the allegations of tax violation in running of the Indian Premier League should be looked into and asked the BCCI to come under the RTI ambit for its own good.
Maken said transparency in the working of National Sports Federations, including the BCCI, can be achieved by bringing them under the Right to Information Act, which the revised National Sports Development Bill seeks to incorporate.
Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the holding of IPL II and Maken said such things, if found true, should not have happened.
“These things should not have happened and the government should look into this and the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies are doing that in IPL and related things,” Maken told reporters on the sidelines of a PYKKA meeting. “It's the public money it (Cricket Board) is getting and private companies should not benefit out of that. It's the money of fans and sports lovers and should be used transparently,” he said.
There have been allegations of ill-gotten money flowing into the IPL from foreign tax heavens.Wondering why the BCCI was against the Right to Information Act, Maken said the proposed inclusion of NSFs, including BCCI, under the legislation would bring transparency and stop controversies like the IPL tax violations.
