There is simply no respite for suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today served a third notice on him over granting of theatrical rights in November last year for IPL-III.
"A third notice has been served on Modi over theatrical rights in IPL," BCCI sources said today.
Modi has already been served two notices. The first notice was sent soon after the conclusion of IPL 3 after he was suspended from his post by the BCCI and the second one was served on May 6 based on an e-mail sent to the Board by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman Giles Clarke.
In his e-mail, Clarke levelled serious charges against Modi that the board found "detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and World cricket at large".
On November 12, 2009, IPL had announced that Entertainment & Sports Direct (ESD) has made the highest bid of Rs 330 crore for its theatrical rights to matches in the league to be played in seasons 2010 through to 2019.
The deal would give ESD the exclusive exhibition rights for audiences in cinema halls, stadia, water borne vessels, buses, trains, armed service establishments, hospitals, bars, hotels, restaurants, airports, railway stations, shopping malls, offices, construction sites, oil rigs, clubs, auditoriums, spas, salons and other similar public venues, as per the announcement.
"Two bids were received for the theatrical rights tender from Triplecom Media and ESD. The theatrical rights bid by ESD was of Rs 330 crore which was the highest," the media release issued by IPL had said.
The reserve price for the bid has been set at $2 million per year, the only restriction being that a Multiplex cannot screen a match being played in that city on the day.
Modi had expressed his delight at the deal and said that "after a fair and transparent process, we have what we believe to be the best theatrical telecast deal for the Indian Premier League and its fans across India".
"Both the bids received were of very high standard and we would like to thank both the organisations for their submissions. The ESD bid is subject to final approval from the IPL Governing Council, and we believe that this agreement will help us take the IPL action direct to the fans on the large screen," he had said.
ESD, promoted by DAR Capital Group, an investment advisory and private equity firm, is a company focused on sports and entertainment related content acquisition for which it has signed up with UFO Moviez and Valuable Media for theatrical and public exhibition in India and key-global markets, a media release had said.
