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IPL verdict: It's time to legalise cricket betting

This cricket-crazy country salutes Justice RM Lodha, a judge who I have admired ever since I appeared before him personally.

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This cricket-crazy country salutes Justice RM Lodha, a judge who I have admired ever since I appeared before him personally. I shall tell you why. A few years ago I wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court complaining about a certain junior Minister in the Maharashtra Cabinet who had reinstated a very notorious Police Inspector who had been dismissed from service. The Inspector’s appeal had been summarily rejected by the Director General of Police, the ultimate departmental authority. The Inspector then approached the Government in the Home Department. The Minister of State without applying his mind reinstated the Inspector on the ground that he was a poor man!
 
The Chief Justice converted my letter into a PIL and sent it for hearing before a division bench headed by Justice R.M. Lodha. Even before I could conclude my arguments Justice Lodha thanked me for bringing this case before the Court and took on himself the task of questioning the Government advocate on the legal and moral adequacy of the Minister’s decision. When the case came up again for hearing the Government conceded its mistake and rescinded its order. Justice Lodha asked me whether I was happy with the outcome. Giving it a thought I requested the Judge to inquire from the Government’s lawyer how many other cases the same Minister had decided against the department’s decisions. Many more such cases were disclosed!
 
Justice Lodha went on to become the Chief Justice of India. He was one of the most respected Judges of his time. The conclusions of the two Judges appointed by the BCCI ran counter to the general perception of the public at large and was finally shown up as biased and prejudiced on behalf of those who had appointed them. Justice Lodha was appointed by the Supreme Court. It was a choice that was bound to stump those who thought they could manipulate the system.
 
Justice Lodha’s further suggestions on revamping the BCCI are eagerly awaited. This august body was respected when there was no money involved in the sport. Great cricket administrators like Anthony de Mello, Seshrao Wankhede and Raj Singh Dungarpur graced the Presidentship of the BCCI with competence, honour and dignity. After the money started pouring in it was not only some of the cricket administrators but also a few players who got corrupted. We hope and pray that Justice Lodha’s recommendations set things right and cricket becomes again a gentleman’s game. Today cricket is like a religion binding together all sections of the population, young and old, male or female, Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh, North Indian, South Indian or people from the Eastern parts and the Western coast. 
 
Humongous betting on the outcome of cricket matches goes on merrily all through the year. The police know this. It is what is tritely termed “an open secret.” Illegal betting on cricket has ruined many. A lady sought my assistance to wean her two sons, one in college and the other in school as they had taken to betting on cricket though they had no income of their own!  The boys owed money to the bookies and the bookie’s men were constantly at her door to demand payment. The bookies were accepting bets from kids and turning up at the poor mother’s door for the payments!

I learnt that this is a common experience of many middleclass families. Cricket betting is the biggest gambling activity in India today much more than trading recklessly in the stock market. Huge amounts are lost to the bookies as actuarial calculations assure profits only to those who make the books. If that was not so the bookies would have been out of business long ago.
 
The bookies are themselves members of syndicates each beholden to one or other of the underworld’s main players. These are the people who approach Cricketers to fix matches teaching them to be untrue to their calling. They spawn corruption and criminality on a major scale. Instead of paying taxes to the government bribes are routinely paid to the police and tax officials. Government would have filled its coffers substantially if betting on cricket matches was legalized like it is in the UK, for example.
 
Another fallout of illegal betting is that criminality increases in geometric proportions besides corrupting the rank and file of the police force. Justice Lodha has indicted Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI’s former Chairman N Srinivasan and Raj Kundra co-owner of Rajasthan Royals of breaking the IPL rules by indulging in big time betting. But small time punters like the two sons of the lady I mentioned earlier in this article far outnumber the elite and they are the biggest pawns in the games played by the betting syndicates. It would be wiser for the government to bring cricket betting under its scrutiny by legalizing it, encouraging the bookies to form syndicates like Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfair in the UK which have effectively eliminated the illegal bookies.

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