Mumbai: It's a crucial day for the suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who will submit his reply to the showcause notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). But the question is whether he will do it himself or his lawyers will handle the business? The former IPL boss is currently in London, but is expected to be back in Mumbai later on Saturday afternoon.
Modi and his lawyers have reportedly prepared an exhaustive reply to the BCCI's notice. He had asked for a five-day extension to the original 15-day deadline as he wanted additional documents from the Board to prepare his defence. (
Read: 22 charges of financial crimes against Modi)
His lawyers say they are confident that the reply will satisfy the Board and Modi would be reinstated as the IPL chief commissioner. His reply is 15 thousand pages long.
Among the more serious ones being:
- That he received kickbacks amounting to 80 million US Dollars for last year's renegotiated TV rights
- That he tampered with sealed bids during the 1st IPL Team auction this year which was cancelled
- That he held an undisclosed stake in 3 IPL Teams viz Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab & Kolkata Knight Riders
- That he tried to arm twist the Kochi based Rendezvous Sports from withdrawing after the successful bid
- And that there were irregularities in his awarding of Broadcast & Internet rights.
On May 13, the Cricket Board had assured Modi that only documentary proofs provided on charges levelled against him would be used in the proceedings.
This after Modi had raised apprehensions about BCCI utilizing evidence from "reliable sources" against him and asked the Board to remove oral communication from the proceedings. (
Read: Lalit Modi seeks proof of charges, BCCI replies)
Modi was suspended on April 26, soon after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season Three final in Navi Mumbai by BCCI which sent him a showcause notice asking him to reply to a slew of charges relating to the conduct of the high-profile Twenty20 league, the deadline for which was extended to May 15. (
Read: Lalit Modi gets more time to reply to BCCI allegations)
Suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi is accused of indulging in murky financial deals without the knowledge of the IPL Governing Council, bid-rigging and taking kickbacks from the TV rights and internet deals.
Modi's problems were compounded when he was slapped with a second showcause notice by the Board for allegedly trying to provoke English counties to revolt against their parent body, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and start a parallel Twenty20 league. The deadline for the second showcause notice is on May 21. (
Read: Lalit Modi slapped with fresh showcause notice)