The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday raised five crucial and contentious questions vis-à-vis the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and its office-bearers in the “ongoing financial scam”.
These five points, says AAP, are within the jurisdiction of the Delhi government.
Through these points, the Delhi government has tried to establish that the DDCA office-bearers were (and are) accountable for the money they spent/splurge as they perform certain public functions, as the Supreme Court had held in the famous Zee Telefilms vs Union of India in 2005, and also in the K. Balaji Iyengar vs State of Kerala (and others, including office-bearers of the Kerala Cricket Association) case of 2010.
The contentious points raised by AAP are:
- The Union government wrote to the Delhi Government, requesting it to probe the irregularities and corruption in the DDCA “at the earliest”.
- In the 2004 Rahul Mehra vs Union of India case, the Delhi High Court decided that office-bearers of cricket associations, though private bodies, will be treated as public servants because these bodies perform public functions akin to state functions.
- In the 2005 Zee Telefilms vs Union of India, the Supreme Court upheld the view expressed by the Delhi High Court in the Rahul Mehra vs Union of India case and some other similar cases.
- In the BCCI vs Union of India case (the 2013 IPL betting-fixing scandal) Justice TS Thakur, now Chief Justice of India, upheld the view expressed by the above two judgements.
- Kerala High Court in the case of Kerala Cricket Association (2010) said that office-bearers of the cricket associations will be treated as public servants for the purpose of Prevention of Corruption Act and can be tried under it.