Income Tax department questions IPL chief through the day
The powers of Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi are expected to be curbed at the upcoming meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on April 24, a likely consequence of his public spat with minister Shashi Tharoor over the Kochi IPL franchise.
BCCI president Shashank Manohar will be the co-chairman of IPL, sharing power with Modi, said officials close to the development. They also said all decisions taken by Modi would have to be ratified by the IPL Governing Council.
Former BCCI president and Union minister Sharad Pawar, however, said there was no question of Manohar becoming co-chairman of a body already under the aegis of BCCI. Since IPL is a subsidiary of BCCI, Modi is already answerable to the governing council, he said.
The IPL governing council has former cricketers Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, as well as politicians and BCCI office bearers such as Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla, Farooq Abdullah, Shashank Manohar, Niranjan Shah, M P Pandove, Chirayu Amin, Sanjay Jagdale and Niranjan Shah.
In passive support to Modi, Pawar also said there is nothing wrong in making the shareholding of IPL teams public.
Meanwhile, IPL's office in Mumbai was “surveyed” by officials of the Income Tax department. Turning the heat on Modi, I-T sleuths are understood to have checked the documents to know the sourcing of funds for the teams.
For Tharoor — who has also been caught in the middle of the Kochi IPL controversy — tense calm prevailed. He was slated to clarify his role in the Kochi franchise in Parliament today. He waited all day in vain, as the Dantewada massacre by Naxals dominated — and disrupted — proceedings.
Tharoor also got a chance today to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi. According to politicians, Tharoor handed over his side of the story, in writing, to Gandhi.
The embattled Kochi franchise, which has been secured by a consortium led by Rendezvous Sports — showered praise on Pawar and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Pawar has gone on record to say that two members of the consortium, which has won the Kochi franchise, had approached him to move the franchise to Ahmedabad on the ground that the Kochi stadium would not be ready for another two years. A senior Cabinet minister from a constituent of the ruling United Progressive Alliance echoed what Pawar had said.
The Gujarat Chief Minister was allegedly party to the efforts to move the franchise to Ahmedabad.
“Since the beginning, Pawar has supported us. He has been consistent that we should stick to Kochi. As far as Narendra Modi is concerned, we welcome his intent and attitude. After his clarification, we are convinced that Modi was not after us. In fact, he had invited us to play in Gujarat if there was a problem relating to the stadium,” said Satyajit Gaekwad, the spokesperson for Rendezvous Sports.
Gaekwad, a former Congress member of Parliament, said the franchise was not considering any legal action related to any of its grievances against the IPL administration, including what it considers a breach of trust by IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi in disclosing the franchise’s shareholding in public.
Tharoor has meanwhile drawn support from a section of the Congress party for taking on Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Members of the Congress said dropping Tharoor from the government as a reaction to BJP’s demand for his ouster, without any wrongdoing being established, would be a mistake. Some are also supporting him for bringing an IPL franchise to Kerala.
