Suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Lalit Modi is expected to seek an extension of the deadline given to him by the cricket board to file his replies to the BCCI chargesheet.
"He has asked for some documents from the BCCI to file his replies but has not got them yet. So he is likely to seek an extension today from the BCCI pending the receipt of the said documents," said sources close to him.
With the deadline for filing the reply ending today, it is not known whether BCCI will accede to his requests if and when it is received.
Modi was suspended on April 26, soon after the conclusion of the IPL final in Navi Mumbai by BCCI which sent him a showcause notice asking him to reply to a slew of charges relating to the conduct of the high-profile Twenty20 league.
Modi was alleged to have indulged in murky financial deals without the knowledge of the IPL Governing Council, bid-rigging and of behavioural pattern which was not acceptable.
Showing posts with label Indian Premier League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Premier League. Show all posts
Monday, May 10, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
I-T officials raid IPL office, grill Modi
Indian Premier League commissioner Mr Lalit Modi was quizzed by a team of Income Tax officials, who were seeking details of the funds raised by different franchisees of the IPL on Thursday.
With this latest development, which is seen as a fall-out of the battle between Mr Modi and the minister of state for external affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, the mentor of the Kochi franchise, sources said the BCCI has decided to clip Mr Modi’s wings and appoint BCCI president as the co-chairman of the IPL.
Earlier during the day, a team of I-T officials had “visited” four offices of the Indian Premiere League at different places in Mumbai including its headquarters at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s office.
I-T officials were quick to dismiss these “visits” as raids and said that they were just “collecting and checking” documents from the IPL, to check the records of the franchises and the organisation itself. However, the fact that the I-T officials also took their own forensics team to check the documents, indicated that the I-T department meant business. The forensic team was taken to check whether any of the documents were fudged or if the accounts genuine.
While one of the offices was the BCCI headquarters, Mr Modi’s office at Four Seasons Hotel and another unidentified place in Bandra and Mahalaxmi were among other places visited by I-T officials.
The “visits” were conducted under Section 131 of the I-T Act. At the time of going to press, one of the I-T teams was still questioning Mr Modi in his office. Sources in the I-T department said that Thursday’s events were just a precursor and the documents would be studied and passed on to the relevant departments.
“The Enforcement Directorate and Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) will also be involved if it is suspected that money invested here was done through fraudulent means like money laundering, hawala transactions or simply converting black money into white.”
Senior I-T officials refused to comment on the developments or whether the “visits” and “inquiries” had anything to do with the full-blown fight between Mr Modi and Mr Tharoor.
In a related development, a senior NCP leader, on condition of anonymity, dismissed the speculation that the NCP chief, Mr Sharad Pawar, has anything to do with the issue. He alleged that “Tharoor’s aides” are resorting to such things because they want to score some brownie points within the Congress by speaking against the NCP and Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.
He said who met whom and others are not core issues. “The core issue is — for what reason was the sweat equity allotted to Sunanda Pushkar and others? There are others also whose names have come to the fore. For what they are getting it?” he said.
The IPL Kochi franchise spokesperson, Mr Satyajit Gaekwad, said “We were told that we won’t be allowed to work. The Adani Group and Mr Narendra Modi had a stake in the Ahmedabad IPL bid. After we won the bid, our investors spoke to Mr Pawar and asked him which city to choose. He said, ‘You can take your pick’ so we decided to take Kochi.”
With this latest development, which is seen as a fall-out of the battle between Mr Modi and the minister of state for external affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, the mentor of the Kochi franchise, sources said the BCCI has decided to clip Mr Modi’s wings and appoint BCCI president as the co-chairman of the IPL.
Earlier during the day, a team of I-T officials had “visited” four offices of the Indian Premiere League at different places in Mumbai including its headquarters at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s office.
I-T officials were quick to dismiss these “visits” as raids and said that they were just “collecting and checking” documents from the IPL, to check the records of the franchises and the organisation itself. However, the fact that the I-T officials also took their own forensics team to check the documents, indicated that the I-T department meant business. The forensic team was taken to check whether any of the documents were fudged or if the accounts genuine.
While one of the offices was the BCCI headquarters, Mr Modi’s office at Four Seasons Hotel and another unidentified place in Bandra and Mahalaxmi were among other places visited by I-T officials.
The “visits” were conducted under Section 131 of the I-T Act. At the time of going to press, one of the I-T teams was still questioning Mr Modi in his office. Sources in the I-T department said that Thursday’s events were just a precursor and the documents would be studied and passed on to the relevant departments.
“The Enforcement Directorate and Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) will also be involved if it is suspected that money invested here was done through fraudulent means like money laundering, hawala transactions or simply converting black money into white.”
Senior I-T officials refused to comment on the developments or whether the “visits” and “inquiries” had anything to do with the full-blown fight between Mr Modi and Mr Tharoor.
In a related development, a senior NCP leader, on condition of anonymity, dismissed the speculation that the NCP chief, Mr Sharad Pawar, has anything to do with the issue. He alleged that “Tharoor’s aides” are resorting to such things because they want to score some brownie points within the Congress by speaking against the NCP and Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.
He said who met whom and others are not core issues. “The core issue is — for what reason was the sweat equity allotted to Sunanda Pushkar and others? There are others also whose names have come to the fore. For what they are getting it?” he said.
The IPL Kochi franchise spokesperson, Mr Satyajit Gaekwad, said “We were told that we won’t be allowed to work. The Adani Group and Mr Narendra Modi had a stake in the Ahmedabad IPL bid. After we won the bid, our investors spoke to Mr Pawar and asked him which city to choose. He said, ‘You can take your pick’ so we decided to take Kochi.”
Thursday, February 18, 2010
“Don’t shift IPL matches out of A.P.”
Congress Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh V. Hanumantha Rao has urged Union Minister and BCCI Chairman Sharad Pawar to use his good offices to persuade the Indian Premier League (IPL) council to re-include Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam as match venues.
“I strongly feel that the shifting of venues is an insult to both Andhra and Telangana regions and their people. This hasty decision of IPL will severely erode Andhra Pradesh’s image and send wrong signals to investors across the world,” Mr. Rao said in a letter to Mr. Pawar.
Shiv Sena’s threats
He referred to the Shiv Sena’s threat to Australian players that they would not be allowed to play IPL matches in Maharashtra and organisers’ decision to go ahead with the matches following assurances on security given by the Chief Minister and the Home Minister.
Likewise, in Andhra Pradesh also, the Chief Minister and the Sports Minister gave an assurance that there would be no problem in hosting the matches though the Telangana agitation was going on. Even the Telangana leaders agreed to allow the matches to be played in Hyderabad.
Despite this the inaugural function and matches had been shifted. “Why this discrimination? Why the IPL is not following the principle in Andhra Pradesh that was applicable to Maharashtra?” Mr. Rao asked.
“I strongly feel that the shifting of venues is an insult to both Andhra and Telangana regions and their people. This hasty decision of IPL will severely erode Andhra Pradesh’s image and send wrong signals to investors across the world,” Mr. Rao said in a letter to Mr. Pawar.
Shiv Sena’s threats
He referred to the Shiv Sena’s threat to Australian players that they would not be allowed to play IPL matches in Maharashtra and organisers’ decision to go ahead with the matches following assurances on security given by the Chief Minister and the Home Minister.
Likewise, in Andhra Pradesh also, the Chief Minister and the Sports Minister gave an assurance that there would be no problem in hosting the matches though the Telangana agitation was going on. Even the Telangana leaders agreed to allow the matches to be played in Hyderabad.
Despite this the inaugural function and matches had been shifted. “Why this discrimination? Why the IPL is not following the principle in Andhra Pradesh that was applicable to Maharashtra?” Mr. Rao asked.
