Legalisation best bet

[Andrew Peter]

The arrest of three poster boys of Pakistani cricket for spot-fixing has brought the debate over making gambling legal in India to the centre stage. With memories of the 2000 match-fixing scandal still afresh in the country, legal luminaries strongly advocate legalising betting and want a strong legislation to punish those who are found indulging in match-fixing. The 2000 scandal led to the registration of criminal cases against the bookies under the Indian Penal Code that bans gambling. While the case gathers dust in courts, the cricketers found indulging in it were banned from playing. Delhi High Court advocate Rahul Mehra, who fought a legal battle against BCCI, says the Board had for so many years denied match-fixing was prevalent in our country. "CBI's 2000 report following the scandal had clearly stated that the Board could have stopped it," Mehra says. Supreme Court advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan agrees. "Horse racing is a good example of how gaming and wagering has been a revenue generator. The five prime turfs across the country - Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata - generate revenue of more than R100 crore in a single day's racing. It is generated both through the official tote of the club as well as through the bookies who have been granted permission. Fifty per cent of the revenue goes to the government." He explains India too could have legalised gaming centres, similar to Ladbrokes and William Hill in England. "Government should levy tax on the game and utilise it to encourage other sports. This would also exclude generation of black money." Mehra feels legal gambling would also keep any match-fixing under check. "Once it happens, bookies would come in the open to register themselves and there would be complete transparency in the system. An authorised agency could be appointed to monitor the game to find out if there is an illogical fluctuation or not," says Mehra. He further adds that the ICC should scrap the anti-corruption unit, and instead, have undercover agents and an independent investigating agency. According to him, the agency should be empowered to search, summon and even arrest a suspect. "It should be autonomous and capable of probing even any icon of the cricket world," Mehra says. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Cricket/CricketNews/Legalisation-best-bet/Article1-765000.aspx

[cowboysfan]

it will never happen,india is still a poor country and you cannot legally encourage betting.

[Pagalpanti]

Even if the bets are legalised, how will it eradicate the mafia's? I mean illegal betting will still go on, manipulation might still take place. It might make it difficult but it wont remove it. Only 1 solution to remove it totally, players should reveal all their bank transactions. If a player has problem he should give up playing cricket. They should not have a problem about revealing their personal info if they have nothing to worry about.

[putrevus]

This match occurred in England and did it stop from spot fixing to take place.The Indian bookie names which are are kept mentioning how do we know that they are not pseudo names which other are using to disguise their real identities. If India made gambling legal these guys would place bets from Dubai.This is all cop out to deflect blame from real cheats players.

[jf1gp_1]

This match occurred in England and did it stop from spot fixing to take place.The Indian bookie names which are are kept mentioning how do we know that they are not pseudo names which other are using to disguise their real identities. If India made gambling legal these guys would place bets from Dubai.This is all cop out to deflect blame from real cheats players.

Well said, at the end of the day it all comes down to individuals; if you can be corrupted no amount of laws or example can deter you

[DomainK]

Betting and fixing are two different things. Fixing happens so that bookies (or someone else) could cheat and make some money in betting by knowing certain things beforehand. So legalizing booking is not going to solve it. Fixing happens because of greed, it can not be stopped by legalizing booking.

[Mariyam]

Betting and fixing are two different things. Fixing happens so that bookies (or someone else) could cheat and make some money in betting by knowing certain things beforehand. So legalizing booking is not going to solve it. Fixing happens because of greed' date=' it can not be stopped by legalizing booking.[/quote'] Exactly. I've heard this (erroneous) arguement before too.That if you legalize betting, you'll curb fixing. The recent cases of spot fixing were in England, where betting is legal. Little good it did them. The only major shift that will happen by legalizing betting is that the money ( which is all black now) will be taxable. So, that a large portion of that money will shift from the hands of unscrupulous bookies to the accounts of the unscrupulous government babus. :P Unfortunately, there is no panacea for human greed.

[DomainK]

Exactly. I've heard this (erroneous) arguement before too.That if you legalize betting, you'll curb fixing. The recent cases of spot fixing were in England, where betting is legal. Little good it did them. The only major shift that will happen by legalizing betting is that the money ( which is all black now) will be taxable. So, that a large portion of that money will shift from the hands of unscrupulous bookies to the accounts of the unscrupulous government babus. :P Unfortunately, there is no panacea for human greed.

Unbelievably, way too many people believe that. Not that hard to understand that betting and fixing are different, is it?