New Delhi, Mumbai:
Lalit Modi has a body that just won't quit - and it has slapped 22 charges of impropriety against him. That body is the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and it's meeting right now to formally endorse its decision to suspend Modi for a diaspora of financial crimes. (Watch: IPL saga - Rise and fall of Lalit Modi)
Among those attending the meeting are Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla, and Shashank Manohar, chief of the mother-ship for all Indian cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Its agenda is to formally endorse Modi's suspension as Chairman and Commissioner of the IPL for what seems like inherent and consistent venality - including accepting a multi-million dollar kickback while assigning the telecast rights for IPL matches, and attempting to rig the bids for the two new IPL teams that were auctioned last month.
Minutes after the IPL final ended on Sunday night, the BCCI sent Modi an email serving him a show-cause notice. He was also suspended, which means he's barred from attending today's meeting. Also skipping the meeting is politician Farooq Abdullah, who said he needs to be in Parliament. That leaves 12 members to formalize the action against Modi. (Read: BCCI president explains Modi's suspension)
Speaking to NDTV immediately after his suspension last night, Modi said, "Are they so scared of me attending the meeting? Are they so scared of the truth?" Modi has 15 days to respond to the 34-page chargesheet. At the closing ceremony for IPL 3 last night, Modi channeled his quintessential bravado to assert that he is the undisputed leader of the IPL and that no financial misdeeds were committed. Referring to himself as "Captain of the team", he said that all deals had included the approval of the Governing Council. (Modi to NDTV: Are they afraid of the truth?) | (Read: Text of Modi's speech after IPL final)
The members of that governing council don't quite see it that way. Its world view suggests that Modi functioned as a lone ranger, striking deals that benefited largely himself. For example, the council says it was not privy to Modi's complicated negotiation of the telecast rights for IPL matches for which an 80 million dollar "facilitation fee" or commission was paid by Multi-Screen Media (MSM) to World Sports Group (WSG), which held the global broadcast rights. Mod, who brokered that deal, is accused by the BCCI of siphoning off a part of this money. (Both MSM and WSG have emphasized that the commission was a part of their official contract, and that no financial rules were broken. Income tax officials investigating the deal believe that at the very least, 140 crores in tax is due for that giant commission).
The BCCI also makes the equally damaging accusation that Modi tried to rig the bids for the two franchises that were sold last month. He was stopped, they say, by BCCI members. (Read: What next for Lalit Modi)
The BCCI is now conducting an internal inquiry against Modi.
What remains a gray area is why the BCCI has waited so long to pin Modi down, if it was aware all along of at least some of the grotesqueries he was committing. Trying to rig an auction of teams is, by any standards, a colossal no-no. So why did the BCCI wait to out him?
Among those attending the meeting are Arun Jaitley, Rajiv Shukla, and Shashank Manohar, chief of the mother-ship for all Indian cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Its agenda is to formally endorse Modi's suspension as Chairman and Commissioner of the IPL for what seems like inherent and consistent venality - including accepting a multi-million dollar kickback while assigning the telecast rights for IPL matches, and attempting to rig the bids for the two new IPL teams that were auctioned last month.
Minutes after the IPL final ended on Sunday night, the BCCI sent Modi an email serving him a show-cause notice. He was also suspended, which means he's barred from attending today's meeting. Also skipping the meeting is politician Farooq Abdullah, who said he needs to be in Parliament. That leaves 12 members to formalize the action against Modi. (Read: BCCI president explains Modi's suspension)
Speaking to NDTV immediately after his suspension last night, Modi said, "Are they so scared of me attending the meeting? Are they so scared of the truth?" Modi has 15 days to respond to the 34-page chargesheet. At the closing ceremony for IPL 3 last night, Modi channeled his quintessential bravado to assert that he is the undisputed leader of the IPL and that no financial misdeeds were committed. Referring to himself as "Captain of the team", he said that all deals had included the approval of the Governing Council. (Modi to NDTV: Are they afraid of the truth?) | (Read: Text of Modi's speech after IPL final)
The members of that governing council don't quite see it that way. Its world view suggests that Modi functioned as a lone ranger, striking deals that benefited largely himself. For example, the council says it was not privy to Modi's complicated negotiation of the telecast rights for IPL matches for which an 80 million dollar "facilitation fee" or commission was paid by Multi-Screen Media (MSM) to World Sports Group (WSG), which held the global broadcast rights. Mod, who brokered that deal, is accused by the BCCI of siphoning off a part of this money. (Both MSM and WSG have emphasized that the commission was a part of their official contract, and that no financial rules were broken. Income tax officials investigating the deal believe that at the very least, 140 crores in tax is due for that giant commission).
The BCCI also makes the equally damaging accusation that Modi tried to rig the bids for the two franchises that were sold last month. He was stopped, they say, by BCCI members. (Read: What next for Lalit Modi)
The BCCI is now conducting an internal inquiry against Modi.
What remains a gray area is why the BCCI has waited so long to pin Modi down, if it was aware all along of at least some of the grotesqueries he was committing. Trying to rig an auction of teams is, by any standards, a colossal no-no. So why did the BCCI wait to out him?
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