Government terms BCCI

The ongoing saga over the television rights for Indian cricket took another twist today with the Indian government terming the Board of Control for Cricket in India as "a state" within the definition of Article 12 of the Indian constitution.

In his submission before the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition from Zee TV challenging the cancellation of tender process for the telecast rights by the BCCI, Mohan Parasara, the additional solicitor-general, said that the union government was of the opinion that the BCCI fell within the purview of the definition of "state".

Under Article 12, "the State" includes the Government and Parliament of India and the Government and the Legislature of each of the States and all local or other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India.

The Board had earlier pleaded for the dismissal of the petition on the grounds that it was an autonomous body and was fully entitled to award the television rights in a manner it deemed fit.

However, resuming the arguments before a five-judge constitution bench headed by N Santosh Hegde, Zee's counsel Harish Salve said that the writ petition was maintainable as the BCCI performed a public duty in selecting the national team, the Press Trust of India reported.