With a view to introduce match-fixing as a standalone offence under the Indian Penal Code, Union law Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday decided to await the opinion of the Attorney General to give clearance to the proposal.
Sibal had talks with officials in the law Ministry and his counterpart in the Sports Ministry before arriving at this conclusion.
The possibility of framing a law to make match-fixing a punishable offence under the IPC was proposed by law Minister to his counterpart as the present system of charging such offences under IPC Section 420 (cheating) was felt to be inadequate and inappropriate.
“We will work with the Sports Ministry to introduce a law that makes match-fixing a criminal offence,” Sibal told reporters. When asked about the details, he said, “We will put up the case for opinion to the Attorney General. If he clears it, the same can be drafted.”
Following the nod of
the A-G, expected to return from a foreign tour late Tuesday night, the Sports Ministry will be entrusted the task of drafting the legislation that will be vetted finally by the
law Ministry.
With the focus being to restore people’s confidence in sports, particularly cricket which continues to be the most popular sport in the country, Sibal had embarked on framing a law to ensure a deterrent for such crimes.
But with no definition of match-fixing under any law in the country, Sibal had earlier stated, “We need to define it as an offence”.
In his talks with Sports Minister Jitendra Singh, the law Minister had said he proposed to plug the loopholes enabling the accused players to escape punishment.