Lalit Modi's Life in Pics

The cricket czar who managed to take the game to unprecedented commercial heights, Lalit Kumar Modi is a law unto himself. The controversy's child was known for his brash style of functioning that often rubbed people the wrong way. Despite all this, his rise has been meteoric.

Born in an influential business class family in New Delhi, Lalit Kumar Modi was never a bright student but was a shrewd businessman indeed.

The billion dollar brand better known as the Indian Premier League is Lalit Modi's brain child that catapulted him to become one of India's most renowned personalities.

However, besides sports and entertainment there was a lot that kept Lalit Modi in the headlines. Here is a look at the Lalit Modi saga.

Lalit Kumar Modi was born on November 29, 1963 in an influential business class family in New Delhi.

His grandfather, Raj Bahadur Gujarmal Modi was the founder of town Modinagar, Ghaziabad and also started the Modi Enterprises which was later headed by his father Krishan Kumar Modi. KK Modi is currently the Chairman of Modi Enterprises, a Rs.40 billion business empire.

As a child, Lalit Modi attended many boarding schools like Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and others in Nainital.

However, he disliked school and was rather lacklustre when it came to studies. Very often, he used to run away from school too. (Getty Image)

After his schooling, he was adamant on pursuing his further studies from the United States. Having scored well in the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test), he chose to skip the school-leaving examinations, mandatory for entrance to colleges and varsities back home.

Eventually, he gained a place at Duke University in Durham, United States.

His first brush with controversy came as early as in college when he was arrested for alleged drug peddling while still studying at the Duke University in 1985.

A sophomore then, Modi was also arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, with intent to kill.

Later, that very year, Modi and another student were indicted on second-degree kidnapping. He soon pleaded guilty to the crime. However, his two year prison sentence was suspended after he entered a plea bargain.

In 1986, after he graduated from Duke University, Modi moved the court again and sought permission to move to India on health grounds. The court ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service by 1990 and gave him the permission to return home. (AFP Photo)

After his forced exit from the US, Modi got into father KK Modi's business. However, none of his father's ventures captivated Lalit's interest and soon, he set out on his own.

Since 1992, Modi has been the Executive Director of Godfrey Phillips India , one of India's largest tobacco companies but sports and entertainment continued to remain Modi's pet sectors.

Around that time, in 1991, he went on to marry Minal, a friend of his mother whom he met while he was still a student in the US. Minal was nine years his senior. (Getty Image)

Minal and Lalit were married in Mumbai despite his family's initial disapproval for Minal was a divorcee from Nigeria. Before their marriage, she living in London with her family. (Getty Image)

Lalit and Minal are blessed with two children named Ruchir and Aliya. (Getty Image)

Lalit Modi's son Ruchir is a student at the American School of Bombay and lives with his family in Mumbai itself. (Getty Image)

Aliya currently studies in Switzerland. (Getty Image)

Minal also has a daughter from her earlier marriage, Karima. (Getty Image)

Karima is married to Gaurav Burman of the Dabur Group and lives in London presently. There were speculations that the Burmans were not happy with the wedding. Karima also has a daughter named Arya.

The scion of the cigarette distribution company sensed a life-transforming opportunity when cable TV and satellite broadcast business was gradually taking root in the country in the early 90s.

Global broadcasters then were not allowed a free entry in the country. Yes it was Lalit Kumar Modi who made it possible. Hail the birth of Modi Entertainment Network (MEN).

In 1993, MEN signed an ambitious joint venture with the Walt Disney. Walt Disney India Pvt Ltd, the new company in which Walt Disney had 51% stake and MEN held the rest, was to augment Disney's programming on various existing television channels.

However, ESPN was soon having 'money issues' and Modi was taken to court again. Even though Lalit's contract had to expire in 1999, ESPN established its own distribution team in 1997 itself.

Modi went on to join the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association in 1999 after he promised to build a cricket stadium that would be used to play cricket in the Indian summer.

Just when he had started to work on his promise, he was booted out when the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Dhumbar installed his own son as the President of the state's Cricket Association. (Getty Image)

In 1996, he pitched to the BCCI a limited-over cricket league - a sort of made-for-TV version of the game. But BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya turned it down.

In his many attempts to enter the BCCI, Modi finally succeeded when in 2004, allegedly under the patronage of then Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje whose government altered the Sports Act to help Modi's election as the Rajasthan Cricket Association President.

RCA elections were held for the first time in 40 years.

Modi's win bruised many an egos, specially that of incumbent Kishore Rungta who later accused Modi of forging his signatures to become a part of the Association.

The president of the RCA knew then that there was no looking back for him!

Modi also got into the real estate business in Rajasthan through a company called Heritage City Construction Pvt. Ltd. with his wife Minal as the director.

However, he was charged for illegally purchasing two heritage havelis in the protected Amer zone in 2007 on the basis of a complaint by an NGO since the havelis were part of the area, which was notified as protected by the state government in the year 1966.

In 2005, Modi figured in a power struggle between Sharad Pawar and Jagmohan Dalmiya in BCCI elections.

He was by Sharad Pawar's side when he overthrew Jagmohan Dalmiya as the BCCI President.

The loyalty earned Modi the firm backing of the heavyweight politician and Lalit Kumar Modi became the youngest BCCI Vice-President ever.

Two years later, India won the T20 World Cup with a fledgling team. It was the power-point Modi needed to convince the BCCI that it was time to launch the IPL.

In 2008, Modi tossed his favourite ingredients - Bollywood, Cricket, International and Indian cricketers and business tycoons to single handedly create the scrumptious dish with lots of love and unheard sums of money of course, called the Indian Premier League(IPL). (AFP Photo)

Everything changed and Modi catapulted to the super-power league. Modi's billion-dollar baby saw the conglomeration of Bollywood superstars and industrialists, bidding for Indian and International players. (AFP Photo)

With its mix of Bollywood and cricket, the two national obsessions in India, IPL struck a chord almost instantly with the fans, who thronged the stadiums to watch the world's best cricketers competing for city-based franchises. (AFP Photo)

Lalit Modi brought glitz and glamour to the game! The cricket field also became home to the cheerleaders, cheering every ball hit hard to cross the boundary. (AFP Photo)

The first season was a massive hit and as eager fans got ready for the second edition, the IPL and its chief was hit by its first major controversy.

With the dates of the event coinciding with the general elections in the country, it was threatening to be a security nightmare for the government, which promptly asked the IPL to adjust dates accordingly.

But the ever-so-brash Modi was in no mood to listen. He took on the country's Home Minister and shifted the tournament to South Africa. (AFP Photo)

Come IPL season 3 and things get bigger, better and bolder! The third season turned out to be the biggest-grosser ever. According to some financial analysts, IPL's brand value stands at 18,000 crore currently. (Getty Image)

The first ever IPL Awards were launched in the third season of the tournament, another one of Modi's initiatives. Bollywood superstars including Priyanka Chopra performed at the function. (Getty Image)

If all this wasn't enough, there were the famous after parties that saw the potent mix of Cricket, Bollywood and Fashion. They were popularly referred to as the IPL Nights. (Getty Image)

All the glamour aside, the first controversy of season 3 sparked off when many international players were still under the hammer. The reason, not even a single Pakistani cricket player was picked by any franchisee.

The snub given to the country's cricketers at the IPL auction, led to the IPL being boycotted in Pakistan. The telecast of the event was however started after its first half. (AFP Photo)

In the middle of its third season, Modi oversaw the bidding process and creation of two new teams in the IPL. Pune and Kochi were declared the new franchises. At the auction held in Chennai, diversified business conglomerate Sahara India, through its subsidiary Sahara Adventure Sports Group, won Pune. (Getty Image)

The fact that a virtually unknown Rendezvous Sports World Group pipped the likes of Adani Group and Videocon to clinch the Kochi franchise snowballed into a devastating controversy when Modi revealed the team's ownership pattern on a social networking site, Twitter.

All hell broke loose when it emerged that union minister Shashi Tharoor's close friend Sunanda Pushkar had been given a sweat equity worth Rs. 70 crore in the team.

Tharoor resigned as a result and the nationwide IT raids on IPL and its franchisees' offices revealed murky details of financial dealings and kickbacks that allegedly Modi got. (Getty Image)

In a grandiloquent ceremony, Lalit Modi concluded the third season of the IPL despite the controversies that surrounded the cricket bonanza.(Getty Image)

The brash and in-your face Modi attacked his detractors in the presentation ceremony following the IPL final, claiming IPL was clean and transparent. (Getty Image)

Lalit Modi remained defiant for most part of the intriguing drama. (Getty Image)

An embarrassed BCCI was in no mood to back down and suspended Lalit Modi immediately after that presentation ceremony before he could come and present his case at the IPL Governing Council Meeting that was scheduled to be held on Monday, 26 April.

There were claims from the opposition that the league was a front for money laundering and illegal betting.

Protestors burnt effigies of Modi and Sharad Pawar, who was backing him during various demonstrations.

For those wondering if it was the beginning of the end for the man who gave India and the world a product called IPL, here's what he himself had to say."I am not going anywhere, I have only been suspended."

Presently, there are 22 charges against Modi. Some of them are:

• He has been charged with rigging the IPL bids
  
  
• He is also charged with holding proxy stakes in two teams
  
  
• He is also said to have arm-twisted the Kochi franchise to back out
  
  
• A serious charge of taking money to turn an IPL broadcast deal in Sony's favour
  
  
• He is also accused of having a dictatorial style of functioning.

Despite the danger of being removed from the BCCI and IPL fold completely, one has to appreciate Lalit Modi's never say die attitude. He had said few days ago, "I have been the BCCI's public enemy No 1 for a long time now."

Modi was to reply to the BCCI showcause notice on Monday, May 10 but he asked for more time and the cricket board has granted the scandal-tainted IPL chief time till May 15 to answer to all their queries.