Sports, Scandals and Law

Millions of people are glued to the TV channels to watch a sports event. Thousands of people, who can afford, pay hefty amount, queue up from early morning to buy Ticket to watch match live from the stadium itself. Many people travel across the world with their favourite team, or favorite player to watch them play and cheer up. And they want their team and players to always win. This feeling becomes genuine if something is proved. Many of them are disappointed when their favorite stars are found to be involved in doping, match fixing, performing below their potential, performing above potential or passing the information to any third party.

Today doping, match fixing, underperforming, taking enhancement drugs is a reality in all sports. No sportsperson is above board and if a pretty good player underperforms, people ‘know’ this. When repeated catches of some player is dropped and the person goes on to score good run and helps his team in winning the match, it is taken not as a surprise but as a ‘fixing’. The nexus between the Cricket Board officials, cricketers is no more of any surprise. Cricket, Soccer, Baseball, Athletics, Cycling, Tennis, Chess, Hockey, Boxing, Clubs and most sports are affected by rampant corruption, nepotism and malpractices which have demoralized the honest sportspersons and shocked the fans and spectators across the world.

Indians are glued to their mobile, radio, TV or other gadgets to update themselves about the latest score of their team and players. people were taken aback when it became clear that match fixing was a reality. It is not that only players from different countries, or clubs, who were accused or, convicted were involved in the match-fixing. In 1998, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were penalized by the Cricket Australia for providing weather report to bookies. No one believed that Hansie Cronje, who was a gentleman on the ground, would be involved in this practice. He felt bad and it is not known whether his death in a plane crash was a game plan or just an accident.

The scam and racket is bigger than what has been discovered so far. The IPL scandal of 2010 made it obvious that despite the presence of camera and new rules and regulations, there was no end to the match-fixing. Further, it was found that there was a big nexus between the cricket officials and the players, as Chennai Super kings and Rajasthan Royals team revealed. There were also instances of huge money laundering as is suspected in the case of IPL team Kochi Kerala Tuskers—which was promoted by Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar. Kochi team was banned, and Lalit Modi was removed from the post of IPL chairman at the intervention of the Supreme Court. But that was not all, as it was found that the nexus among cricket officials-cricketers-politicians and corporate was ensuring the monopoly of some players. M S Dhoni, the most decorated player was playing for India, as well as Chennai Super Kings—the team promoted by India Cements owner and BCCI Treasurer N Srinivasan. The issue was not only of corruption but also clash of interest where Lalit Modi and N Srinivasan were not only officials of the Cricket governing body, but they were also indirect owners of the IPL Franchise teams, which also won the IPL crown. Chennai and Rajasthan Royals returned to the IPL competition in 2017, after serving a ban of two years. There are reasons to believe that the victory of Chennai team in two editions of the IPL was pre-planned and fixed. With every new edition, IPL got richer and more controversial. Shashi Tharoor was forced to resign from the cabinet of Dr. Manmohan Singh, when he failed to satisfy his critics about the financial deal of IPL team Kochi, where his girlfriend Sunanda Pushkar was directly involved. Later on, Sunanda died under mysterious circumstances and still the cause of her death is not clear. In 2013, three players of Rajasthan Royals were arrested by Delhi Police for being involved in spot-fixing. The Supreme Court appointed a three-member Committee headed by Justice R M Lodha to enquire into the functioning of the BCCI. After enquiry, the Lodha Committee called for the resignation of the office bearers of the BCCI and a Committee of Administrators (COA) under Vinod Rai was appointed to work and cleanse the system. Corruption and nepotism is so deep in cricket that the SC has no faith in its governing body. But due to the PIL filed and the court intervention, at least some beginning is made to cleanse the system.

The world cricket is not new to fixing, as mentioned above. The death of Bob Woolmer on the sidelines of the World Cup was another instance of involvement of money in the game. From time to time, players from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and England have been found guilty of misconduct or accused of match-fixing and providing information to the bookies. Other sports also face the challenge of instilling discipline and integrity among players and office bearers.

The fans of Football were stunned when FIFA was rocked with corruption allegations at highest place, and its longest serving president Sepp Blatter resigned in June 2015. The football world was in denial that its longest serving chief has left, just days after winning a re-election. His resignation came on the close heels of investigations into the affairs of the FIFA, where its top executives were alleged to be involved in taking bribes and kickbacks for giving broadcasting rights, and also influencing the decision for the bidding of 2018 Russia World Cup and 2022 Qatar World Cup. After the investigations started in the US and Switzerland, former FIFA official Chuck Blazer admitted to taking bribes in exchange for awarding the 1998 World Cup to France and the 2010 World Cup to South Africa. Ben Jhonson, Jennifer Capriati, Lance Armstrong are other sportspersons who have cheated the people. Maria Sharapova has made a comeback to the sports after serving two years ban.

The filing of the PIL, the intervention of the Supreme Court and the hard work of the Lodha Committee is an attempt to cleanse the game of cricket in India. It appears that lawmakers, bureaucrats, cops  should not be allowed to control the sports bodies, as it hampers the growth of the game and creates nexus. Law and its enforcement can rid the sports of the corrupt practices, cheating and restore the confidence of the people in the game. Lalit Modi is still absconding and a lot needs to be done, though a beginning has been made.

Inheritance, Divorce, Equality and Woman: Myth and Reality

For some time it has become fashionable for people to talk about issues which they don’t know. In recent times, the issue of Divorce among Muslims are being discussed in 24X7 TV News Channels, as if this is the biggest policy decision for Indians. The social media is trending #TripleTalaq and anyone is making comments to suit political or social interest. Has it anything to do with the right of the woman, equity or justice. This is something no one is ready to answer.

In Modern times, Lord William Bentick had to face the flack of the Hindu community for banning the sati in 1829. When the British wanted to increase the marriage age for the Hindu girls from 10 to 12, Balgangadhar Tilak launched agitation against the British Move. The Age of Consent Bill was passed by the British in March 1894. Hindu Law Reform Committee was appointed in 1941, and Hindu Code Bill was passed in 1965 despite huge opposition from some quarters. As for inheritance, it was as recently as in 2005 that Hindu daughter was made a coparcener with a right to inherit. There are no statistics to prove, how many Hindu daughters have benefited from the 2005 Law. As for divorce among Hindu Women, the situation is worse as many women are left to suffer without any clarification on the status. Take for example the case of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.  His wife Manju Kumar Sinha was living separately and  did not have any relation for long time till her death in 2007. The death ceremony was solemnized by Nitish Kumar, but it is well known that he has been living with another woman for long time. Now, the question is Mrs. Sinha is not the only sufferer. There are thousands of such cases, where Hindu woman is not divorced, and she neither enjoys the fruits of marriage. Is this because of the rigid laws, which make the divorce difficult on the pretext of ‘till death do us part’? Moreover, the Hindu woman does not have any right to seek divorce from the Husband. And the tradition of ‘Streedhan’, makes it difficult for the father to arrange money for the marriage.  The sex ratio of the girl child is low in states like Haryana and Punjab, and it has compelled the government to launch ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Parhao’ scheme. Now compare this to the Muslim women.

Muslim woman enjoys the right to seek divorce under ‘Khula’, and ‘Fasq Nikah’. The Muslim woman was also bestowed with the right to inherit property in the 7^th century AD, when the entire world was treating women badly. It was a great reform to bestow women with the right to inherit property. It was to recognize the individual status of the woman, and not link her to Father-Husband-Son and subject  her to discrimination. Woman was also given the right to see and meet her future husband. And it was made compulsory that the Husband will pay her ‘Meher’ upon marriage to her. But human relations are delicate and subject to human emotions, ups and downs, social pulls and pressure. As Islam wants to make marriage easy, a provision for divorce was given to the both parties. However, the Quran makes it clear that of all the permission granted, ‘divorce’ is one permission, which is discouraged. And Divorce is subject to terms and conditions as clearly mentioned in Quran.  Maulana Abul Kalam Azad clearly mentions in his interpretation to the Quran, that Divorce is valid in three sittings. So, the entire public discourse about Three Divorce at one go is misplaced and presents a distorted facts to suit some group. As per the 2011 Census the Muslim Community has the lowest rate of divorce and as per the survey, the ratio of girl child is better among Muslims compared to other groups.

Woman and her individual identity and rights are important, and law should be made to make her position equal in the society in terms of her right to inherit and seek divorce.

Law and Legal Career

Advanced nations and progressive societies are known by the respect people give to the Law of the land and compatriots. India is a nation, where people do not follow law, and law abiding people are termed as weak. While those having no regard for law is considered to be influential and powerful. No wonder the legislatures of the states, and the center is full with lawmakers who are not law abiding citizens, but criminals and corrupt. 

The March 2017 Assembly election results in the state of Uttar Pradesh elected large proportion of candidates with criminal background. According to reports almost 40 per cent of the newly elected MLAS have cases pending against them in courts. This is a trend which can be a case for any other state assembly.  And it is an awakening for the state, as the people are looking for honesty, integrity, transparency in public life. The other pillars of democracy are not immune to this phenomenon.

The bureaucracy and police are known for being corrupt and subverting the freedom of the people. The Media is also selling fake news and promoting paid news to serve the interest of some corporate house or some Public Relations firm. Engineers and Doctors are also known for their corrupt practices. Hospitals charge exorbitantly which makes quality health services inaccessible to the common people. Even the field of sports is full of people who fix matches, throw matches, and indulge in unfair practices to win the game or loose the game. The lawyers and judges are part of the society and hence the issues of nepotism, corruption also haunt the judicial system. Still Lawyers,  lower courts and higher courts are looked upon by the people with optimism, hope and expectations.

It is this hope which rests on the shoulders of the judges, lawyers and the judicial system to impart justice to the people. This is the future of law. The profession not only gives a career with respect in society, but it also rewards lawyers with handsome money. After graduating with BA LLB, the young lawyer can join the court or law firm with confidence to serve the society and make a good living in the areas of civil, criminal, revenue, and taxation cases. The BBA LLB Graduates apart from having the regular avenues can also join the corporate world with higher salaries. The corporate world hire lawyers as full time advisors. A new avenue in law field is emerging with rise in disputes, grievances, and wider scope for restitution, and mediation in resolving them. Gender violence and cyber crimes are also rising with more cases being reported and more people being cheated by fraudulent methods online. The tax fraud by Vodafone, the problem of bad loans, issue of Vijay Mallaya, issue of Lalit Modi and many other such cases only gives an idea of the huge requirement for quality lawyers in the country.

According to estimates around 4 lakh  lawyers are required every year to join the field. And if you add the number of posts of judges in Supreme Court, High Court, District Courts, lower courts, the requirement is much more. Many new areas of law is to be explored. The cases of RTI, and PIL have risen many times. Similarly cases of family disputes, relation disputes, harassment are rising due to awareness among people. More FIRs are being registered than earlier. More people are dying on the roads, more people are getting injured, and India do not have proper mechanism to punish the guilty and compensate the victim. There is no limit to opportunity for good lawyer. We are still in our initial stage, and in coming years, more reforms will take place in jails and the concept of justice will undergo a transformation with more emphasis on inclusive approach to justice. The world of transgender, third sex, gays, LGBT rights, minority rights, tribal rights and giving respect to the accused  remains areas which have not attracted due attention in India. Families are breaking, wives are filing complaint against husband, hubbies are complaining of cruetly and harassment, girlfriends are accusing boyfriends of harrassment and cheating, workplace harassment is rising. In India, a sense of fear prevails among Dalits (#Jhajhar, #Guna), Tribals(#Jharkhand), and minorities over issue of animal / cow slaughter, and many individuals have been lynched publically on suspicion or some argument. At other level, intolerance is high, with hate crime on rise in all societies and people taking law into their hands.  All this means more work for lawyers and more opportunity for the law stream.

Let us face it. Indians disregard law and openly violate the rights of others. They take pride in bashing up,  and bullying.  As Confucius Said, "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame." 

With vice ruling the world, only law and enforcement of law can bring sense of justice to the world. The future belongs to young lawyers.