With the spot-fixing scandal rocking the IPL’s current season, the UPA government on Saturday said that a new law will soon be enacted to deal with match fixers and others found indulging in illegal activities in sports in the country.
Minister for law and justice Kapil Sibal said the enactment of a new standalone law was favoured by Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati as activities like match-fixing or spot-fixing are not covered under the present laws.
“Dishonest practices like match-fixing and spot-fixing need to be dealt with in a holistic manner and the new law was favoured instead of mere amendments to the IPC,” Mr Sibal added.
The law minister stated that the first draft of the new law will be ready this week and will be sent to the sports ministry for further consultations. The details of the proposed law were reported first by this newspaper on May 20.
The proposed legislation will define “dishonest practices” and will include any gesture or act which can change the course or outcome of a match or tournament. The law minister claimed that the government had the support of the Opposition in the enactment of the new law. He mentioned that Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley met him on Friday and favoured such a law, saying states would not be able to check such activities which have national and international dimensions. He regretted that the government had not enacted such a law though the problem has existed for over a decade.
The new law is likely to follow the procedures laid down in the CrPC to deal with prosecution and punishment.
In his opinion, Mr Vahanvati said the proposed law will apply irrespective of whether or not betting or gambling are legal.