File photo of former IPL chief Lalit Modi
The CBI has sent documents to Interpol for a red corner notice against cricket tycoon Lalit Modi, who has been accused of financial irregularities in the Indian Premier League that he founded.
The red corner notice will help India bring Mr Modi, who lives in London, to India to face investigation for corruption. Earlier this month, a court in Mumbai had issued a non-bailable warrant for him in the middle of a national controversy because of his alleged close links to top leaders of the BJP.
Mr Modi, 49, left the country in 2010 amid allegations of tax evasion, money-laundering and proxy ownership linked to the IPL. He has since refused to return to India, alleging death threats from the underworld.
Mr Modi's lawyers have said he can be available for legal proceedings on video conference, an offer accepted as fair by the Delhi High Court last year, which also reinstated his Indian passport after faulting the government for having revoked it.
The CBI's move comes days after Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was attacked in Parliament by the opposition for helping Lalit Modi with urgent travel papers in Britain.
Ms Swaraj, in a forceful statement in the Lok Sabha, declared that she had committed no mistake and she had helped Lalit Modi on humanitarian grounds.
Opposition parties led by the Congress stalled business in the monsoon session of Parliament over demands for Sushma Swaraj's resignation for protecting a "fugitive".
The Enforcement Directorate says Mr Modi manipulated the process of assigning broadcast rights of the IPL in 2009, reportedly in exchange for a kickback of over 125 crores. Testimony against Mr Modi has been given by N Srinivasan, former head of the uber-powerful BCCI, which is the top cricket administrative body in the country.