• Home
• /
• Cricket

Suspended IPL chief replies to graft charges

Modi himself stayed away from the spotlight as he sent his lawyer Mehmood Abdi to submit relevant documents to the Mumbai offices of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Television pictures showed six cardboard cartons marked “Reply to showcause notice by Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner IPL - suspended” being delivered to the BCCI offices.

Abdi declined to reveal the contents of Modi’s reply, but told reporters he was confident his client will be absolved of all charges.

“It is a very comprehensive reply comprising around 12,000 pages and I am sure Mr Modi will be reinstated as soon as possible,” Abdi said.

“We have addressed all issues and answered all charges and we expect a favourable decision from the BCCI.”

The BCCI, which owns the IPL, had suspended Modi last month pending its own probe into allegations of corruption, tax evasion and money-laundering in the glitzy Twenty20 event that has sparked a government investigation.

Modi was also stood down as a BCCI vice-president and as chairman of the T20 Champions League, a separate club tournament organised jointly by India, Australia and South Africa.

The charges against Modi include rigging IPL bids, holding proxy stakes in teams, receiving kickbacks in return for broadcasting deals, and having a dictatorial management style.

Modi’s reply will be placed before a three-member disciplinary panel of the BCCI, which will then recommend to the general body whether he should be reinstated or not.

The panel, comprising BCCI president Shashank Manohar and vice-presidents Arun Jaitley and Chirayu Amin, must settle the matter within six months, according to the board’s constitution.

Modi, 46, has run the IPL as a virtual one-man show since its inception three years ago, creating a heady and lucrative blend of star-studded Twenty20 cricket, big business and Bollywood glamour.

Modi’s troubles began last month when he revealed the ownership details of a new franchise set to join the tournament in 2011.

He embarrassed a high-profile member of the government, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor, by leaking on the Twitter micro-blogging site how Tharoor’s girlfriend had been given a free stake in the new team.

Under pressure from the opposition, which accused Tharoor of misusing his office to secure benefit for himself, the minister was forced to resign.

Modi has another week to answer to a second BCCI charge that he encouraged English counties to start a parallel Twenty20 league without the knowledge of the respective cricket boards.