Has Lalit Modi created an Indian Parivar League?

New Delhi: Lalit Modi continues to insist that the exact ownership of the Kochi Indian Premier League Team remains a gray area. Furious, the owners who paid 1530 crores for their team last month told NDTV that all documents required as part of their bid, including their PAN cards, have been submitted to Modi, who is the IPL Commissioner.

At a press conference, a belligerent Modi tried to provide the rationale for his constant needling. "The only reason we did this time is because we did not know...even the share-holders did not know who they were. In case of all the eight (other IPL franchisees), I can tell you who they are. If they feel there is a hidden agenda or hidden stake, I can sit here today and say that there isn't."

When NDTV pointed out that while the ownership of the eight other teams may be known, their shares have not been made public, Modi responded, "Well, if it isn't, we'll give it out."

This could mean more bouncers for Modi. Several critics point to the fact that members of Modi's extended families have stake in various IPL teams. Some have even called it "The Indian Parivar League." Modi, however, has in the past, said that he has never hidden the fact that his friends and family invested in the IPL early on to support his grand ambitions for providing India a billion-dollar league.

In fact, Modi is associated with as many as three teams through family members and friends. Suresh Chellaram, co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals is his wife's brother-in-law. His step-daughter is married to the Burman family which co-owns Kings XI Punjab. And his close friends, the Moranis, bought into the Kolkata Knight Riders when the IPL was launched.

It's not just Modi who could have a hard time passing a conflict-of-interest test. N Srinivasan, who is the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) owns the Chennai Super Kings. The chairman of selectors, K Srikkanth, is the Brand Ambassador of the same team.

Vijay Mallya, owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and his daughter works with Modi at the IPL. So does the daughter of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

So while Shashi Tharoor's patronage of and lobbying for the Kochi team may have landed him in a gigantic political controversy, Modi now has his own catalogue of grievances to address. It is these allegations of a double-role that will see him in the hot seat over the next few weeks, even as the BCCI has called a special meeting to discuss the multiple scandals that have led the BJP to christen the IPL the "Indian Corruption League."