Delhi HC to hear case against BCCI in March

The Delhi High Court will resume hearing on March 1 a public interest case filed last year against alleged lack of transparency in the national cricket board's activities, lawyers said on Wednesday.

Two cricket fans filed the case in April last year seeking greater openness in the Board of Control for Cricket in India election procedures and financial accounts.

The case, due to be heard on Wednesday, was postponed after government lawyers said they needed time to prepare their arguments against the accusations.

"We wanted to file some affidavits and asked the court for more time," a BCCI lawyer said.

Lawyer Rahul Mehra and businessman Shantanu Sharma named the government, the BCCI and the Delhi and District Cricket Association in their petition before the Delhi High Court.

The petition stated that BCCI spent only 1.1 per cent of the money it earned and 2.2 per cent of its total expenditure in 1998-99 on coaching.

The petition added that South Africa spent 20 times that amount on coaching in the 1998-99 season.

Mehra said the court had asked the board to clarify the points raised in the petition.

The Indian board had argued that since it was an autonomous body, it was not obliged to respond to a writ petition.

"They get income tax exemption, benefits from the government and the team selected by them is called the Indian national team. Under these grounds, we have stated a writ petition can be maintainable against them," Mehra said.

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Mail Cricket Editor