A beleaguered Lalit Modi was reported to have lost the backing of Union minister and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) heavyweight Sharad Pawar and may be out as Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner when the IPL Governing Council meets in Mumbai on April 26.
Amid mounting pressure from detractors within and outside BCCI to ease him out, indications emerged that Modi may have to quit the post. Members are likely to ask him to voluntarily give up the position, given the raging controversy that now surrounds the financing of the hugely popular cricket league.
Modi, who is at the centre of a storm following his comments on the Kochi franchise that cost the job of Union minister Shashi Tharoor, however, remained defiant today. He said he would not step down, even as reports suggested that Pawar, who had been backing him, wanted him to resign.
On his return to Mumbai from Dubai, where he had gone to attend an International Cricket Council meeting as India’s alternate director on behalf of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, Modi said the reports on his stepping down were mere speculation. Modi has a term of five years, till 2012, as the IPL chairman. IPL is promoted by the cash-rich BCCI.
“I will present all the facts about the allegations at the IPL Governing Council meeting,” Modi said at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.
Key members of BCCI, however, have made it clear that they would ask for Modi’s resignation.
“The IPL Governing Council is going to ask Modi to resign from his position as the chairman and commissioner of IPL on April 26, and if he doesn’t, a special resolution will be passed to make him leave,” a Board member told Business Standard today on condition of anonymity.
Pawar is understood to have told Modi that he should resign, as the controversy over IPL has harmed BCCI’s reputation.
However, on Tuesday, Pawar said any decision regarding IPL and its boss would be collectively taken by the BCCI Governing Council.
From observations made by members of the BCCI governing council, it is clear that Modi will get a frosty reception when the council meets.
The major area of enquiry where searching questions will be asked of Modi will be the circumstances in which the first round of bidding for the Kochi team by Rendezvous Sports World (RSW) was cancelled.
RSW says that bid documents put financial conditions on bidders that were too high and had to be changed later. This led to the second round of bidding two weeks later.
Speaking to reporters after a two-hour meeting with the BCCI president in New Delhi, Pawar said: “The committee will take collective and unanimous decisions. My personal view carries no weight, we take collective decisions. Lalit Modi is also a BCCI vice-president and the decision will be unanimous”.
IPL has seen a lot of questions being raised on propriety in the last 10 days and the issue of ownership of the Kochi franchise seems to have opened a can of worms.
WSG denies wrongdoing in IPL deal
Facing allegation that it received $80 million as facilitation fee for IPL broadcast rights from Multi Screen Media, the Singapore-headquartered World Sports Group, or WSG, today claimed it had done no wrong and would take appropriate action to uphold its reputation.
FM asks I-T dept to probe tax evasion
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asked the Income Tax Department to focus on two issues, while probing the Indian Premier League (IPL) fiasco — income-tax (I-T) evasion by the franchisees and the charges of money laundering.
Mukherjee has also given clear instructions to the I-T team that it should not target individuals but track the money dealings.
The finance ministry has also asked the department to conclude the probe as early as possible and submit its report.
As the government faced the heat from several political parties over the ongoing IPL controversies, the finance minister had announced on Monday that the government would conduct a thorough probe into the funding of the country's most popular cricket event.
Top sources in the government also told Business Standard today that the probe by the government would not be an attempt to put pressure on Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, a key ally of the United Progressive Alliance and a former chief of the Indian cricket board.
Meanwhile, the corporate affairs ministry today directed the Registrar of Companies to collect within a week all details on IPL franchises, the bidding process and the sweat equity, coinciding with a finance ministry probe into funding of the cricket body.
Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians disclose stakes
GMR Sports, the owners of Delhi Daredevils, on Tuesday voluntarily disclosed the shareholding pattern of the franchise. “In the wake of various media reports and speculation, the company would like to place on record that the Delhi Daredevils is owned by GMR Sports Private Ltd, a subsidiary of GMR Holdings Private Ltd, which holds 51 per cent of share capital,” the company said in a statement.
“The remaining 49 per cent is owned by the family members of G M Rao — Srinivas Bommidala (12 per cent), G M Rao (13 per cent), G B S Raju (12 per cent) and G Kiran Kumar (12 per cent),” the company said.
GMR Holdings’ share capital is fully held by G M Rao and his family members.
Mumbai Indians also filed its equity holding pattern. According to the filing made public today, 98.3 per cent of the equity of Mumbai Indians’ franchisee, IndiaWin Sports Pvt Ltd, is held by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd (RIIHL) and the remaining 1.7 per cent by Teesta Retail Pvt Ltd. RIIHL is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Industries and Teesta is a part of RIIHL.
A source in Kolkata Knight Riders also said actor Shah Rukh Khan holds a 55 per cent stake in the franchise, and the rest is owned by Jay Mehta.
Tharoor ready for 'thorough' probe
Two days after resigning from the Union council of ministers, a defiant Shashi Tharoor pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in the ongoing controversies regarding the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In a statement in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said he had resigned to allow the government to "focus on the great challenges facing our nation" but also insisted that he had done "nothing improper or unethical, let alone illegal".
