The deputy director of Income Tax (Exemption), where the RTI petition was transferred, declined to give information on the grounds that the sole cricketing body concerned assessed to tax with his office, GCA, has raised objection to divulge information

The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) has declined to divulge the information on the tax exemption it gets from the state authorities under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Surprisingly, other cricket boards have furnished the information. The same RTI application revealed that the Board for Control of Cricket (BCCI), the world’s richest cricket board, is yet to pay its outstanding tax-dues of Rs373 crore for the assessment year of 2009-10, to the Income-Tax (I-T) department. 

Delhi-based RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, in September 2011, had filed an RTI application with Union sports ministry, seeking information on various types of tax-exemptions such as Income Tax, Entertainment Tax, Excise Duty and Customs Duty given by Union and state governments to national and state-level cricket bodies including BCCI, GCA and Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), among others, in the last five years. The application was further transfer to concern departments for the reply. 

The deputy director of Income Tax (Exemption), where the RTI petition was transferred, declined to give information on the grounds that the sole cricketing body concerned assessed to tax with his office, GCA, has raised objection to divulge information.

Anurag Sharma, deputy director of Income Tax (Exemption), Ahemdabad, in his reply said, “With regard to your query and the details sought therein, it is to inform you that the sole cricketing body assessed to tax with this office is the GCA. The said association vide a letter dated 6 February 2011 had raised its objection to any information being divulged under any Act, including the RTI Act, from its records.” 

Mr Agrawal says that, “Any objection from GCA is totally irrelevant in view of section 8(2) of RTI Act which clearly stipulates that a public authority may allow access to information if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests. Rather the CPIO should not have even sought comments of GCA on the RTI petition. Great public interest is involved where even the Union sports ministry has in its affidavit filed before Hon’ able Central Information Commission has taken even Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) as a public authority. The Kerala High Court has held officials of state cricket bodies as public-servants.” 

Other boards have given the information out. In the reply, Assistant Commissioner of Income-Tax (Mumbai), revealed that for assessment year 2009-10, on BCCI’s income of Rs964 crore, the total tax of Rs413 crore, was demanded. Of this, only Rs40 crore has been paid and Rs373 is still pending. The RTI reply also said that assessment for 2010-11 and 2011-12 is still pending.

BCCI under Section 11 of the I-T Act, 1961, claimed for exemption as given to a charitable organization. However, the I-T department, in the same RTI reply said that, “The Department has withdrawn registration u/s 12 of IT Act and rejected assessee’s (BCCI) claim for exemption…”  

Mr Agrawal says that, “Strict-most action should be taken against concerned ones at BCCI who did not pay adequate advance tax for the assessment-year 2009-10.”

The information also indicates that BCCI’s income has been doubling since 2007-08, where it stood at Rs274 crore. It jumped to Rs608 crore and Rs964 for 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively.