The Union law Ministry on Wednesday sought the Attorney General’s opinion over framing a law to make match fixing a criminal offence.
With a formal request expected to be sent by the Ministry on Thursday, the law Ministry is expected to seek clarification on whether the Central Government has the power to legislate on the subject of sports.
Under the Constitution, Centre has the power to legislate on subjects stated in the Union list or Concurrent list while State list subjects fall exclusively in the domain of States. The Government has sought the Attorney General’s opinion on whether the proposed law on match fixing would fall within
its jurisdiction to stand scrutiny by Courts.
‘Sports’ as a subject does not find mention in the Union list. However, the State list mentions the same. This could be an initial hurdle that the Centre faces before it decides to frame a law.
In the aftermath of the IPl spot fixing row, law Minister Kapil Sibal had assured that the Government would make every effort to restore people’s confidence in sports. In framing a law to ensure there is a harsh deterrent for such crimes, Sibal informed reporters “We need to define it as an offence”. But before embarking upon this exercise, the Ministry would await the opinion of the Attorney General.
Sibal had held 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 offenders for match fixing 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 on Tuesday. When asked about the details, he had said, “We will put up the case for opinion to the Attorney General. If he clears it, the same can be drafted.” It is believed that the law Minister consulted the AG over phone on Wednesday since the latter’s return from a foreign tour.