New Delhi:
Friday outed a new controversy in what's come to be known as IPL-Gate: The perfect storm that erupted in April, courtesy Lalit Modi, who was then the Chairman of the four-billion-dollar league.
It has emerged that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, his wife, and daughter Supriya Sule collectively own 16 percent of a company that, on paper, tried to buy an IPL team in last round of auctions in March. The company, City Corporation, is based in Pune. In his defence, Pawar held a press conference where he said that while the company's name was used for the bid, it was the Managing Director who was actually the bidder. "The board took a unanimous decision not (to get) involved. (But) the Managing Director was eager to get associated with the bidding process, so he was allowed in his individual capacity... in (the Board's) resolution, it was made absolutely clear that there is no direct or indirect involvement of any shareholder other then Mr Deshpande personally," said Pawar. (Read: No role, says Supriya Sule)
Pawar also points out that City Corporation, which offered 1200 crores for a team, did not win its bid. The franchise was bought by Sahara which paid 1700 crores. If he wanted a company he partly-owns to benefit, Pawar says, surely he would have pushed for its bid to go through. "I was somebody in that organisation. Had I used any influence, do you think it would have lost the bid?" he asked. (Watch: Pawar family's stakes in City Corporation)
The Managing Director, Aniruddha Deshpande, was quick to assume all responsibility. Speaking to NDTV in Pune, Deshpande explained, "This has nothing to do with the Pawar family. I bid for the team in my Individual capacity. There is an attempt to defame the Pawars. (Watch: I bid in my individual capacity: Deshpande on IPL). Deshpande went on to explain that he planned to later form a consortium with other companies and the Maharashtra Cricket Association and that it was this group that would actually own the new team.
Swift support for Pawar also came in all the way from Florence, where suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said, "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."
THE DETRACTORS
But not everyone agrees. The BJP was quick to charge Pawar with misrepresenting the facts, and said he should resign immediately.
"If Pawar does not resign, we demand that the Prime Minister should take stern action against him," said party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Read: Pawar should resign immediately, says BJP) | (Read: Pawar must speak for himself, says Congress)
Like the BJP, what many are asking now is why Pawar did not reveal that he owns a company whose senior-most executive lost a bid for an IPL franchise.
In addition to ethical questions, there could be legal issues too. Sources in the Corporate Affairs Ministry say that City Corporation's bid seems to be a gross violation of corporate governance. Executives can't use the entity of a company to represent themselves in cases like this, they point out, suggesting that Deshpande should be asked for an explanation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the uber-body for Indian cricket. (Read: Pawar IPL controversy: Company laws broken?)
Pawar, and his deputy, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, have repeatedly issued denials that they own proxy or undeclared holdings in IPL teams. Who bankrolls the IPL and how has become a fierce controversy unleashed by Modi on twitter in April.
Since then, IPL-gate has cost Modi and minister Shashi Tharoor their jobs, along with provoking the government to launch a nationwide inquiry into the funding and taxes of the IPL.
IPL-GATE: THE STORY SO FAR
In April, Modi unleashed a series of searing tweets that alleged that Tharoor, then Minister of State for External Affairs, had an illicit interest in the new Kochi team whose owners had gifted equity worth Rs 70 crores to the minister's girlfriend, Sunanda Pushkar. According to Modi, the minister tried to dissuade him from questioning who the consortium really included. Tharoor was forced to quit in a din of accusations that he had misused his office.
The heat then shifted with blazing intensity to Modi, whose lone-ranger style of functioning and arrogance meant he had never been popular with the sport's uber-body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Modi was suspended as Chairman of the IPL, accused, among other things, of swinging team bids in favour of family and friends, and of accepting a Rs 80-crore kickback in a controversial deal for the IPL's telecast rights.
As the government launched a multi-city inquiry, with raids at offices of the different IPL team-owners, the dark side of the gazillion-wattage IPL started overshadowing the league's most profitable season ever. Sources said early investigations showed that politicians were among those suspected of proxy holdings. Media reports have repeatedly suggested that those politicians include Pawar and Patel, the main leaders of their Nationalist Congress Party and key allies of the UPA government.
Sule's father-in-law was found to own a small stake in a company involved in the controversial deal for the broadcast rights of the IPL, one which is now being investigated for massive financial irregularities.
Patel has also said that his only link with the IPL is that his daughter is a junior employee at the league. An email trail established that before the Kochi group backed by Tharoor made its bid, Patel requested BCCI president Shashank Manohar to email a sort of business plan projection to his office. This plan was then forwarded by Patel's office to Tharoor.
It has emerged that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, his wife, and daughter Supriya Sule collectively own 16 percent of a company that, on paper, tried to buy an IPL team in last round of auctions in March. The company, City Corporation, is based in Pune. In his defence, Pawar held a press conference where he said that while the company's name was used for the bid, it was the Managing Director who was actually the bidder. "The board took a unanimous decision not (to get) involved. (But) the Managing Director was eager to get associated with the bidding process, so he was allowed in his individual capacity... in (the Board's) resolution, it was made absolutely clear that there is no direct or indirect involvement of any shareholder other then Mr Deshpande personally," said Pawar. (Read: No role, says Supriya Sule)
Pawar also points out that City Corporation, which offered 1200 crores for a team, did not win its bid. The franchise was bought by Sahara which paid 1700 crores. If he wanted a company he partly-owns to benefit, Pawar says, surely he would have pushed for its bid to go through. "I was somebody in that organisation. Had I used any influence, do you think it would have lost the bid?" he asked. (Watch: Pawar family's stakes in City Corporation)
The Managing Director, Aniruddha Deshpande, was quick to assume all responsibility. Speaking to NDTV in Pune, Deshpande explained, "This has nothing to do with the Pawar family. I bid for the team in my Individual capacity. There is an attempt to defame the Pawars. (Watch: I bid in my individual capacity: Deshpande on IPL). Deshpande went on to explain that he planned to later form a consortium with other companies and the Maharashtra Cricket Association and that it was this group that would actually own the new team.
Swift support for Pawar also came in all the way from Florence, where suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi said, "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."
THE DETRACTORS
But not everyone agrees. The BJP was quick to charge Pawar with misrepresenting the facts, and said he should resign immediately.
"If Pawar does not resign, we demand that the Prime Minister should take stern action against him," said party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad. (Read: Pawar should resign immediately, says BJP) | (Read: Pawar must speak for himself, says Congress)
Like the BJP, what many are asking now is why Pawar did not reveal that he owns a company whose senior-most executive lost a bid for an IPL franchise.
In addition to ethical questions, there could be legal issues too. Sources in the Corporate Affairs Ministry say that City Corporation's bid seems to be a gross violation of corporate governance. Executives can't use the entity of a company to represent themselves in cases like this, they point out, suggesting that Deshpande should be asked for an explanation by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the uber-body for Indian cricket. (Read: Pawar IPL controversy: Company laws broken?)
Pawar, and his deputy, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, have repeatedly issued denials that they own proxy or undeclared holdings in IPL teams. Who bankrolls the IPL and how has become a fierce controversy unleashed by Modi on twitter in April.
Since then, IPL-gate has cost Modi and minister Shashi Tharoor their jobs, along with provoking the government to launch a nationwide inquiry into the funding and taxes of the IPL.
IPL-GATE: THE STORY SO FAR
In April, Modi unleashed a series of searing tweets that alleged that Tharoor, then Minister of State for External Affairs, had an illicit interest in the new Kochi team whose owners had gifted equity worth Rs 70 crores to the minister's girlfriend, Sunanda Pushkar. According to Modi, the minister tried to dissuade him from questioning who the consortium really included. Tharoor was forced to quit in a din of accusations that he had misused his office.
The heat then shifted with blazing intensity to Modi, whose lone-ranger style of functioning and arrogance meant he had never been popular with the sport's uber-body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Modi was suspended as Chairman of the IPL, accused, among other things, of swinging team bids in favour of family and friends, and of accepting a Rs 80-crore kickback in a controversial deal for the IPL's telecast rights.
As the government launched a multi-city inquiry, with raids at offices of the different IPL team-owners, the dark side of the gazillion-wattage IPL started overshadowing the league's most profitable season ever. Sources said early investigations showed that politicians were among those suspected of proxy holdings. Media reports have repeatedly suggested that those politicians include Pawar and Patel, the main leaders of their Nationalist Congress Party and key allies of the UPA government.
Sule's father-in-law was found to own a small stake in a company involved in the controversial deal for the broadcast rights of the IPL, one which is now being investigated for massive financial irregularities.
Patel has also said that his only link with the IPL is that his daughter is a junior employee at the league. An email trail established that before the Kochi group backed by Tharoor made its bid, Patel requested BCCI president Shashank Manohar to email a sort of business plan projection to his office. This plan was then forwarded by Patel's office to Tharoor.
