Taming of the megalomaniac institution: perspectives on regulating the unbridled powers of the BCCI

Abstract

The boisterous emotion associated with the game of Inches, i.e., Cricket has given this 'mere' sport, the dimension of worship, faith, religion and a status of idolism of players. The negatives or the positives of worshipping a sport or escalating it to a status comparable to that of immortal gods, is a continual argument that shall always remain on the brink of the line of abstruseness. Yet, politicising the sport to earn commercial and economic benefits by exploiting the emotions associated with the sport falls on which side of the line remains ambiguous The infamous case of Surinder Singh Barmi, where severe accusations were levelled against BCCI, showed the roller-coaster ride of manipulation of emotions. The author in the paper will focus on the structure of Cricket in India and the uncontested power derived by BCCI. The author will further expound on the revenue generation of BCCI which has made BCCI invincible. The author will also illustrate the power of BCCI by reflecting on the competition law concerns it modelled over the years, making it unassailable. The author contends that, despite the ostensible and anti-competitive nature of its powers, the competition law remedy against the BCCI falls short in checking the varied variety of rights associated with the Game of Cricket in India. BCCI needs to be subjected to a more comprehensive power checking mechanism. The paper shall argue that BCCI should be considered a State under the Indian Constitution and should fall under the domain of Right to information to bring in more transparency in its functioning.