Feature
SC to hear Cricket Association of Bihar’s plea on Friday
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Friday hear Cricket Association of Bihar’s (CAB) plea seeking handing over of Justice Mukul Mudgal committee’s investigative report into allegations of betting in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) to the Justice Lodha committee.
The Lodha committee is now examining reforms in the working of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to make its functioning transparent.
The Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB) is not recognised by the apex cricketing body BCCI.
Directing the hearing of the CAB application on Friday at 2.00 p.m., the apex court bench of Justice T.S.Thakur, Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice R. Banumathi asked why was CAB asking for the report to be handed over.
“Let Justice Lodha committee ask for it,” the court said.
Urging the court to make available the Mudgal committee report — including the one in a sealed cover that has the names of 13 players allegedly involved in acts of misdemeanour — to Justice Lodha committee, CAB said this would help the Lodha committee in appreciating the extent of malaise that has crept into BCCI.
CAB said a better appreciation of malfunctioning of the apex cricketing body would help the Lodha committee in suggesting administrative reforms required to revive the image of cricket, and keeping BCCI away from another scam.
In a clean-up exercise, the Lodha committee, also comprising Justices R.V. Ravindran and Justice Ashok Bhan, had on July 14 suspended IPL franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years.
The committee had also slapped a lifelong ban on former CSK official Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra from the affairs of cricket in the country for their role in betting.
The Lodha committee was set up on January 22 by the apex court bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla to decide the quantum of punishment that had to be awarded to former BCCI president N. Srinivasan’s son-in-law Meiyappan and Kundra for their involvement in betting during 2013 IPL.
The court had also asked Justice Lodha committee to look into the activities of BCCI official Sunder Raman in the matter. This issue is still pending as his role is still being investigated.
The court also asked the Lodha committee to examine and consider amendments to BCCI’s memorandum of association and the prevalent rules and regulations for “streamlining the conduct of elections to different posts/officers in the BCCI including conditions of eligibility and disqualifications, if any, for candidates wanting to contest the election for such posts including the office of the president of the BCCI”.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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