The Bombay High Court today questioned if there can be a conflict of interest if a minister is part of BCCI,or of any other sports body for that matter. After the BCCI counsel failed to comment on this,the court asked the state government to reply by May 5 whether there is a possibility of such a conflict and also whether there was any code of conduct for ministers on this aspect. The question came up during the hearing of a PIL filed by Shiv Sena MLA Subhash Desai,demanding that state collect entertainment tax from the IPL. The division bench of Justice P B Majmudar and Justice Rajesh Ketkar asked BCCI lawyer Raju Subramaniam whether a minister could be a functionary of the cricket body. They questioned the morality of such a decision and asked whether a conflict of interest will arise if a minister is head of a sport association. Subramaniam said that he could not comment on this,but added the BCCI constitution does not prevent any minister from contesting Board elections. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan,asked by PTI for his reaction,said the government would seek legal advice before replying. On the primary subject of the petition,Government lawyer D A Nalavade said the state had waived entertainment tax on all sport activities in 1964,but is mulling lifting the exemption. The government now intends to withdraw the exemption because these are not just sport activities, Nalavade said,adding that a policy was needed for all sport events where entertainment was a primary element. The judges remarked that now that the IPL is over,it would be difficult to recover entertainment tax in retrospect. The damage done is unpardonable. The BCCI lawyer said that should the government levy entertainment tax,the cricket body would pay up. But Chavan told PTI,It is not possible to levy tax on IPL since the season is over. Subramaniam said except for the final,the semis,and the play-off for third spot,tickets were sold by the franchisees; hence,BCCI would not be liable for tax,he said. The court had wanted to know if IPL was a profiteering venture and expressed dissatisfaction with the BCCIs approach. The next hearing is on May 5.
