All over for 'IPL czar' Modi?

3 Jul 2010, 2258 hrs IST, AGENCIES
Tightening the noose around the embattled Lalit Modi, the BCCI on Saturday (July 3) took the first step towards his expulsion by unanimously ratifying all charges against him and authorising its President Shashank Manohar to initiate civil and criminal proceedings against the suspended IPL chief. The BCCI's Special General Body Meeting also referred the charges against Modi to a re-constituted disciplinary committee which now has Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia replacing Manohar, who rescued himself after Modi accused him of bias.

The Board's unanimous decision to refer the matter to its Disciplinary Committee is seen as the first step for Modi's ouster from the BCCI where he has virtually lost support from all the members. Manohar said criminal proceedings could be started against Modi for financial bunglings while issuing IPL contracts and rights. "The house, after deliberation and debate on the matter, resolved that the Board President has the right to start any legal proceedings, including civil and criminal proceedings, against Mr Modi," Manohar told a press conference.

"The civil and criminal matters would be decided after inquiry and that is for the disciplinary committee to decide. I can tell you that there were certain rights given to parties without there being contracts like the ticketing rights of the finals and the third-place match given to a company called 'Ticket Genie'. There was no contract to show how many tickets were printed and how many were sold," he said. Modi's legal counsel Mehmood Abdi termed the BCCI's decision to refer charges against him to the disciplinary panel as well as to initiate criminal proceedings as "legal absurdity".

"The decision taken is a legal absurdity. On the one hand the SGM BCCI decided to ratify referring of charges against Mr Modi to the disciplinary committee for further investigation. "On the other hand the BCCI decides also to file criminal charges against Mr Modi on the same ground. That means the BCCI has already formed an opinion about the commitment of offence by Modi," Abdi said. Apart from Scindia, the disciplinary committee also includes IPL's interim chief Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-President Arun Jaitely. Scindia is the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association chief and a sitting Congress MP from Guna. "There were 30 members present, 29 state associations were there and the house took a unanimous decision ratifying BCCI Secretary's (N Srinivasan) decision to recommend the matter to the disciplinary committee," Manohar said.

"The house unanimously decided to appoint Scindia as the third member of the disciplinary committee. He (Modi) has accused me and Srinivasan of bias, so we both thought that Mr Scindia would be the best person to be in the committee because he is not associated with the day to day functioning of the board," Manohar explained. Manohar said that the disciplinary panel will complete its probe against Modi within six months from the date of issue of the three show cause notices to Modi. "There's no bar", Manohar said to a query whether the probe against Modi will run parallel to the impending criminal and civil charges that the Board will file against Modi with government authorities.

Asked about an estimate of the financial irregularities, Manohar said, "I can't say on that but I can say there were number of contracts of which we had no knowledge." Manohar said Modi will have to appear before the disciplinary committee where he would get a chance to put forth his reply on accusations that include taking kickbacks from TV and internet rights. "Modi says he was not aware about the facilitation fee of USD 80 million. Modi who has signed the contract has given us the reply that he was not aware of the fee. He will be asked to appear before the inquiry committee where he can give his additional reply," he said.

On the disciplinary committee's functioning, Manohar said since he was no longer a part of the panel, he could not comment. "Now we don't have anything to do with the committee's proceedings," he said. On the World Sports Group's threat to initiate legal action against the BCCI for scrapping its telecast deals, Manohar said, "If they want to go to court, its fine." Manohar also said the Board will not take a decision on the application for sale of stakes in the Kings XI Punjab by its co-promoters, including industrialist Ness Wadia and Bollywood star Preity Zinta till the probe into its share holding was completed by the relevant government authorities.

Modi has been slapped with three show cause notices so far accusing him of financial bunglings, trying to start a rebel league in England and irregularities in issuing theatrical rights of the IPL. Modi's replies, the first one running into a whopping 15,000 pages, were rejected by the BCCI which then decided to call the SGM to discuss the issue. The decision to refer the matter to the disciplinary committee is seen as the first step towards ousting Modi from all BCCI positions. Modi, a BCCI vice-President, has remained defiant accusing the Board Secretary of pursuing personal vendetta against him.


This is undoubtedly the biggest cover-up scandal in India, maybe next only to the Anderson-Bhopal tragedy cover-up by Congress. Everybody but everybody said Modi worked wonders for cricket. However, when he set out to expose a scandal behind the IPL Cochin bid, Congress, stung that one of Sonia's blue-eyed boys was caught red-handed, set in motion an oust-Modi plan. They set the IT Department against Modi and even before framing charges, Times of India itself was recruited to taint Modi's image by trying to pass of allegations as confirmed facts. When the going was good everyone gave Modi a free hand. Now the very people who were in the thick of alleged wrong-doings are themselves sitting in judgement. They have brought in Jyotiraditya Scinda as an empire - a fellow, like his father, known to be a Congress toady. The Supreme Court must intervene and put an end to this farce and appoint a neutral committee to go into all aspects of the matter. Meanwhile Modi should be asked by the football associations in India to draw up a programme to take football in India from its current hubris to international success. If Modi is at the helm, there is all the chance that India may be a part of the next world cup. Go India Go.

http://www.timesnow.tv/All-over-for-IPL-czar-Modi/articleshow/4348865.cms