CIC Overturns Decision on BCCI: The Central Information Commission (CIC) on Monday clarified that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not a ‘public authority’ under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Commission said that BCCI is neither owned by the government nor under its control. Also, neither does it get adequate financial assistance from the government.

Along with this, the Information Commission rejected the appeal in which information was sought as to under what provisions and rights the BCCI represents India and selects players for national and international cricket competitions.

BCCI not under the purview of RBI Act

CIC said in its decision that BCCI is a private, autonomous body, registered under the ‘Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act’. It is neither constituted by the Constitution, nor by the Parliament, nor by any State Legislature, nor is it a body created by any Government notification.

Information Commissioner P.R. Ramesh said in the order that BCCI cannot be categorized as a ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, hence the provisions of the RTI Act are not applicable to it in this case.

CIC changed its decision

In fact, this decision reverses the order given in the year 2018, in which the then Information Commissioner and renowned legal expert M. Sridhar Acharyulu had considered BCCI as a ‘public authority’. He had directed the BCCI President, Secretary and Committee of Administrators to appoint Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) and First Appellate Authority under the RTI Act.

At that time, the Central Information Commission (CIC) had also directed BCCI to voluntarily make the information public under Section 4 of the RTI Act and to give a point-wise reply to the RTI applicant. However, BCCI challenged this order in the Madras High Court.

The court sent the case back to CIC for reconsideration in September 2025. The court had said that the legal position should be re-examined in the light of the Supreme Court’s observations in the BCCI vs Cricket Association of Bihar case and after that a new order should be passed.

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