Indian Premier League, in the news for much more than plain cricket, and its Commissioner, Lalit Modi, have come under the taxman’s lens.
Income tax officials today visited IPL headquarters in south Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and Modi’s own office in central Mumbai’s Worli. They began questioning Modi in the afternoon at the first office and were then with him at the latter one from about 7 pm till the time of printing this. The questioning, by at least three teams, seemed likely to continue well past midnight.
Various documents and a hard disk were brought along by the taxmen from the IPL headquarters to the Worli one. The inquiry was into the various financial details and shareholding patterns of all league franchisees.
Immediately after the first I-T team arrived at the IPL office, Modi rushed there to meet them. Press Trust of India quoted Modi as saying the tax team’s task was only an inquiry and not a search operation. He said the IPL would “fully cooperate”.
Officials said the visit was part of the department’s efforts to probe the source of funding for the IPL teams that came into existence in 2008.
Though the league originally had eight teams, two more were added this year, amid trading of charges between a group of investors who had bagged the rights for the Kochi team franchise and Modi. Minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor had supported the Kochi franchise’s bid, where his associate Sunanda Pushkarna has a five per cent stake.
Amid trading of charges, Tharoor met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday night.
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PTI adds: The I-T department has created a special cell in Mumbai to keep a tab on all income generated by the IPL, sources said.
It said the probe had been initiated to check if there is any illegal flow of funds or whether any ‘black’ money in being pumped into the sporting extravaganza, including from foreign shores.