New Delhi: Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal, on Friday, called for betting in sport to be legalised in India, saying it would prevent corruption, especially in cricket.
Justice Mudgal, who had headed the IPL spot-fixing and betting probe after being appointed by the Supreme Court, was speaking during the launch of a book.
The book touches upon topics including the IPL probe report and doping controversies.
"The legalising of sports betting will help in reducing spot-fixing and other illegal practices... The government will also be able to make money from it in the form of taxes," Justice Mudgal said.
Well known for his keen interest in cricket, Justice Mudgal, a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was also appointed by the Delhi High Court last year as an observer for the India-South Africa Test match at the Kotla.
Under Justice Mudgal's guidance, the faction-ridden Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) made profit after more than 30 years. So impressive was his functioning during the Test match that he would once again be heading the committee which will oversee organising matters for the World T20 matches, at be played at the Kotla.
A committee of his choice has already been formed and he has made a few changes in key positions of the organising committee.
Asked on the Board of Control for Cricket in India's decision to appeal against some of the recommendations of the Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha committee, Justice Mudgal said that the cricket Board was entitled to its opinion.
Justice Mudgal said that he received a letter from the DDCA regarding the managing committee meeting where observations were made on the Lodha committee's report.
"I have received a letter from the DDCA stating that no such committee exists and no decisions were taken on the Lodha committee's recommendations," Justice Mudgal said.
He also spoke in support of the IPL and said that the T20 tournament helps young players as they get an opportunity to rub shoulders with the big stars of international cricket.
The DDCA, once again, got into controversy a few days back when it wrote a letter to the BCCI saying that it did not agree to the recommendations of the Lodha committee.
The letter, claiming that the executive committee had passed a resolution in this regard, was signed by DDCA working president Chetan Chauhan and vice-president CK Khanna.
The issue invited protests from several members, who alleged that no such meeting was held and the so-called "observations" were actually the brainchild of a few DDCA officials.
DDCA club secretary Sunil Jain wrote to Justice Mudgal and senior BCCI officials saying: "I have received a copy of the DDCA's so-called managing committee's comments on the Lodha committee report.
"Firstly, no such managing committee exists and, secondly, no meeting was held, nor any discussion took place on the report on February 17, 2016. Thus, at best, it only represents the views of the two signatories to the letter Mr. C.K. Khanna and Mr. Chetan Chauhan."
