New Delhi:
Lalit Modi, suspended Indian Premier League Commissioner, is standing by Sharad Pawar in the latest controversy that has erupted out of the four-billion-dollar league. It has now emerged that a company owned partly by Pawar, City Corporation in Pune, bid for an IPL team in March this year.
Modi stands by Pawar's explanation - that while Pawar's family owns 16 percent of City Corporation, the bid was made "in the individual capacity" of the Managing Director of the company, Aniruddha Deshpande. (Read: Pawar, daughter deny involvement in IPL bids; BJP slams Pawar)
However, Modi has dropped a bombshell - he claims that Chirayu Amin, the man who replaced him as IPL Commissioner, was a part of the IPL bid that involved a company in which Sharad Pawar's family owns 16 percent.
Modi said, in a phone interview from Florence, "Talk of Pawar's involvement is a joke. Deshpande bid in his own name. This was qualified. He put together a consortium. And also mentioned that a new company will be formed. City Corp was not the actual bidder. Except to show the net worth of one promoter."
Modi also told PTI, "There were three members in the consortium that was part of the bid. They were Aniruddha, Akruti and Chirayu Amin."
Amin was appointed interim IPL Chairman and Commissioner after Modi was suspended a few weeks ago on charges that include corruption and facilitating proxy holdings in the league.
Speaking to NDTV, Amin refuted Modi's charges. "I was approached by a group of businessmen to join them in the consortium to bid for the Pune franchise. I agreed to invest upto 10 percent from one of our associate companies. Before participating in the bid, I wrote a letter to the President of the BCCI, Mr Shashank Manohar in this regard, and also stated in my letter that further clearance will be taken from BCCI before investing in case the bid was successful. There was, therefore, total transparency at every step."
Modi stands by Pawar's explanation - that while Pawar's family owns 16 percent of City Corporation, the bid was made "in the individual capacity" of the Managing Director of the company, Aniruddha Deshpande. (Read: Pawar, daughter deny involvement in IPL bids; BJP slams Pawar)
However, Modi has dropped a bombshell - he claims that Chirayu Amin, the man who replaced him as IPL Commissioner, was a part of the IPL bid that involved a company in which Sharad Pawar's family owns 16 percent.
Modi said, in a phone interview from Florence, "Talk of Pawar's involvement is a joke. Deshpande bid in his own name. This was qualified. He put together a consortium. And also mentioned that a new company will be formed. City Corp was not the actual bidder. Except to show the net worth of one promoter."
Modi also told PTI, "There were three members in the consortium that was part of the bid. They were Aniruddha, Akruti and Chirayu Amin."
Amin was appointed interim IPL Chairman and Commissioner after Modi was suspended a few weeks ago on charges that include corruption and facilitating proxy holdings in the league.
Speaking to NDTV, Amin refuted Modi's charges. "I was approached by a group of businessmen to join them in the consortium to bid for the Pune franchise. I agreed to invest upto 10 percent from one of our associate companies. Before participating in the bid, I wrote a letter to the President of the BCCI, Mr Shashank Manohar in this regard, and also stated in my letter that further clearance will be taken from BCCI before investing in case the bid was successful. There was, therefore, total transparency at every step."
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