READ: MODI'S OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA

 

LALIT MODI'S OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA

Lalit K Modi

READ: MODI'S OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA

 

FOR THE MISINFORMED MEDIA 

OPINION OF HON'BLE MR  JUSTICE SINHA (RETRD)

STATUS ON 16 SHOW CAUSE NOTICES : ALL COMPLETELY REPLIED

 

 

1. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT GROUP (IMG) ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON IMG ISSUE  | SUMMARY
  
  

2. 11 SHOW CAUSE NOTICES ON SOUTH AFRICA ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON SOUTH AFRICA ISSUE | SUMMARY
  
  

3. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON PLAYERS ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON PLAYERS ISSUE | SUMMARY
  
  

4. 2 SHOW CAUSE NOTICES ON PERFORMANCE DEPOSIT ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON PERFORMANCE DEPOSIT ISSUE | SUMMARY
  
  

5. SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ON SONY ISSUE

• MY REPLY ON SONY ISSUE | SUMMARY

Note:

1. In 2010, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started various investigations pertaining to BCCI- IPL. After investigations, the ED issued 16 show cause notices (SCN) on merit - 1 show cause notice on IMG contract issue, 11 SCN on conduct of IPL 2 in South Africa, 1 show cause notice on giving of guarantees to foreign players, 2 SCN on acceptance of performance deposit from foreign bidders, and 1 show cause notice on IPL Media Rights issue.

2. Mr. Lalit Kumar Modi has filed his reply on merits to each of the SCN issued by the ED.

3. On merits, in none of the SCN issued by the ED, any personal misdemeanor of Mr. Lalit Modi was found. Rather, Mr. Modi has been arrayed as a co-noticee with the aid of Section 42 of FEMA, which provides for vicarious liability merely because he was Chairman of IPL . 

4. In those investigations, it was apparent that  Mr. Modi had no financial powers or cheque signing powers,  which vested with the Secretary and Treasurer of BCCI, and  had no role to play in any outward remittance. Consequently, no foreign exchange violation has been done by Mr. Modi.

5.    In effect, the ED has found that the responsibility in BCCI was collective rather than individual and the allegation made by BCCI that Mr Modi was acting without authority was not true and in effect discarded by the ED.

6.    The copy of  show cause notices on IMG issue, SA issue, players issue, performance deposit issue, and Sony issue are annexed as Annexure 1 to 5 respectively. The copies of replies of Mr. Modi to these notices are annexed as Annexure 6 to 10 respectively.

7.    The  brief tabular form of the various SCN issued by the ED are set out as under:

Sr. No.	Complaint upon which the show cause notice was based	Show cause notice	Role of Mr. Modi	Whether response filed	Status
1.	A complaint was filed on 13.7.2011 alleging that BCCI had hired IMG, an international sports marketing agency as consultant for IPL and this was done without approval of RBI.	Based on this complaint, 1 showcause notice dated 20.7.2011 was issued to BCCI, Mr. N. Srinivasan, the Secretary BCCI, Mr. MP Pandove, Treasurer BCCI, and Mr. Modi.	Mr. Modi has been issued notice only under Section 42 (1) of FEMA, which provides for vicarious liability.	The BCCI has filed a detailed response to the show cause notice denying  the allegations made therein. Mr. Modi has separately filed a reply denying the allegations and that Section 42 (1) does not apply to him.	Pending adjudication
2.	A complaint was filed on 17.11.2011 alleging that BCCI held the 2ndseason of IPL in South Africa and this was done without approval of RBI.	11 SCN dated 25.11.2011 were issued against the BCCI on a single complaint pertaining to each forex transaction in South Africa. Mr. Shashank Manohar, the President BCCI, Mr. N. Srinivasan, the Secy. BCCI, Mr. M.P. Pandove, the Treasurer, Mr. Ratnakar Shetty, CEO, BCCI, Mr. Prassanna Kanan, the Manager, Business and Commercial Services, IPL, Mr. Sunder Raman, COO, IPL and  Mr. Modi are co-noticees.	The notice has been issued to Mr. Modi under Section 42 (1) of FEMA providing for vicarious liability.	The BCCI has filed a detailed response to the show cause notice denying  the allegations made therein. Mr. Modi has separately filed a reply stating that he had no role at all to play in the forex transactions and that Section 42 (1) does not apply to him.	Pending adjudication
3.	A complaint was filed on 16.2.2012 alleging that BCCI gave guarantees to foreign players participating in IPL without permission of RBI.	1 show cause notice was issued on 21.2.2012 to the BCCI, Mr. Niranjan Shah, the then Secretary, and Mr. Modi.	The notice has been issued to  Mr. Modi under Section 42 (1) of FEMA providing for vicarious liability	The BCCI has filed a detailed response to the show cause notice denying  the allegations made therein. Mr. Modi has separately filed a reply denying the allegations and that Section 42 (1) does not apply to him.	Pending adjudication
4.	A complaint dated 22.8.2012 was filed that BCCI while awarding contracts to foreign bidders accepted performance deposit/earnest money in foreign currency without seeking RBI approval.	On 23.8.2012, 2 SCN were issued to the BCCI, Mr. N. Srinivasan, Mr. Niranjan Shah, and Mr. Modi.	The notice has been issued to Mr. Modi under Section 42 (1) of FEMA providing for vicarious liability.	Mr. Modi has filed a reply denying the allegations and that Section 42 (1) does not apply to him.	Pending adjudication
5.	A complaint dated 19.1.2015 was filed that BCCI while awarding contract to Sony had guaranteed payment of fees to WSG.	On 11.2.2015, 1 show cause notice was issued to the BCCI, Mr. N. Srinivasan, Mr. Sundar Raman, and Mr. Modi as well as WSG and Sony and their directors.	The notice has been issued to Mr. Modi under Section 42 of FEMA providing for vicarious liability.	Mr. Modi has filed a reply denying the allegations and that Section 42 does not apply to him.	Pending adjudication

WATCH LALIT MODI'S INTERVIEW WITH INDIA TODAY

 

WATCH LALIT MODI'S INTERVIEW WITH RAJDEEP SARDESAI  

 

TIME FOR A NEW WORLD CRICKET ORDER!

The world of cricket is crying out for help. There is distress all over the world. England cannot manage one man, Pakistan cannot manage its entire cricket, and West Indies don't know how to keep themselves together. On the other hand, South Africa is grappling with issues of race, Sri Lanka with government interference, and India with corruption.

From the brazen power grab by the BCCI, CA, and ECB aimed at further filling their already overflowing coffers to the marginalization of the associate and affiliate nations, the custodian of our sport under the stewardship of demon-in-chief N. Srinivasan is slowly but surely guiding our beloved game to its death!!!

Where the sport should be expanding, playing a bigger role globally, it is stagnating. When the sport should be embracing new countries like China and the Americas, the ICC is seeking to marginalize them.

The most high-profile threat to the established order has come from Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It was a venture, I was involved with. I walked away from it because I do not promise to deliver what I know I cannot. A promise of confidentiality forbids me from shedding more light on this ambitious project, but as ambitious as I think his venture to be, I believe it poses a very real threat to the ICC's monopoly on world cricket.

The sport currently lacks the right sort of leadership. We still don't know what will happen with the next World Cup, don't know the future of Test cricket, and of course of the developing world. The so-called governing body – ICC has failed, leaving world cricket in a state of chaos and confusion.

A recent classic example of their failure is the talk around the Champions League T20 being shut down. Now, this was a tournament that should have been conducted by ICC rather than by BCCI, but they simply did not have the vision. They are too pre-occupied with a cosy tax-free life.

It required a visionary like Mr Sharad Pawar to back the idea for BCCI to push it forward. Mr. Pawar saved world cricket of embarrassment by making ICC have a rethink on the number of associates in the 2015 World Cup, or else we would not have seen Ireland beating England and West Indies.

A complete overhaul of the system, starting with the ICC is thus, the need of the hour. Cricket needs a new world order and a new set of people, who will govern and administer with passion!

The ICC and its current set of directors, including N Srinivasan are happy to chug along without making a change to the way they operate. They have all got into a comfort zone from where they don't want to come out. The perfect example of this is the ICC Annual General Meeting being held in Barbados next month. Instead of spending petro-dollars on a fancy meeting away from Dubai, they could have very well stayed on in the Gulf, met, and dispersed. This is the sort of money that could have been paid to the players in the less-fancied cricket playing nations.

After all, let's be clear we are all here because of cricket and cricketers. Without the sport and players, administrators are no good. Nepal, an associate country has suffered one of the worst natural disasters. Their cricketing activities have slowed down for now. But what has the ICC done for them?

Cricket can play a unifying and humane role, but clearly Ind its devil chief Srinivasan do not seem to realise this. If the ICC, governed by a handful of entrenched, vested interests who are bent on holding the sport hostage, is unable to live up to its mandate, then perhaps a new world order isn't such a bad thing.

 

Follow my thoughts on the BCCI crisis through my Twitter account @lalitkmodi