The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was brought under the RTI (Right to Information) Act by a ruling of the Central Information Commission (CIC) on Monday (1 October).

Now BCCI would have to be listed as a National Sports Federation (NSF) covered under the RTI Act. The RTI Act should be made applicable to the BCCI along with its entire constituent member cricketing associations, provided they fulfill the criteria applicable to the BCCI, as discussed in the Law Commission's report.

"In continuance of the CIC order, we would like to convey that we wholeheartedly support transparency and have created a robust platform in the form of the website. Through this medium, we have been putting our processes and decisions out in public domain," Head of BCCI's Committee of Administrators (COA) Vinod Rai said in a statement.

"Our website is becoming more vibrant with increased emphasis on openness and accountability. The COA is committed to probity and openness in the BCCI and has introduced good governance with professional administration. Lastly, I am passionate and totally dedicated to set up an edifice of good governance which will be premised on probity, transparency, and ethical standards," he added.

"I believe there has been willful negligence on part of the COA in botching up BCCI's right to legal representation," a senior BCCI official said while counting the legal hassles of the CIC order.

"There was a CIC hearing on July 10 when it was asked as to why BCCI shouldn't come under the RTI? The BCCI didn't even file a reply and sat on the show-cause notice. Now the only way is to challenge the order in High Court and take it from there on," the official said.

“We hear that BCCI wants to partially come under the RTI and not reveal things like team selection and all? Is it a joke? If BCCI challenges, there won't be any half measures. It will be all or nothing," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)