Endgame for Modi with parallel IPL probes

New Delhi: Shashi Tharoor may have been forced to resign from the Union Cabinet but IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi has no reason to celebrate. Modi is facing the biggest threat to his unquestioned reign as the IPL boss.

Following accusations that Modi was involved in betting and financial irregularity, the embattled IPL chief counter punched immediately. He told CNN-IBN from Dubai that he would file defamation suits against the newspapers. "I reject the betting charges. I will file defamation case against the newspapers," Modi said.

But it's becoming increasingly clear that Modi is waging a lone battle for his survival within the corridors of the Indian cricket board BCCI. The board is set to initiate an independent probe into allegations of financial bungling by the IPL boss. Although on the record, no direct charge is being made against Lalit Modi, according to sources.

However, the beleaguered Modi does still have some support within the board. CNN-IBN has learnt that the IPL's governing council meeting, scheduled for this Friday, has been pushed back till the end of the ongoing third edition of the league. The move is being touted by many to be prompted by Sharad Pawar to enable Modi to build a stronger defence. Pawar believes Modi has done a great job.

But among those who are out to remove Modi as IPL boss, are BCCI President Shashank Manohar, Secretary N Srinivasan, and Congress MP and BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla who heads the board's media and finance committee also. Batting for Modi are former BCCI chief I S Bindra and Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association boss Farooq Abdullah.

And carefully waiting and watching from the sidelines are men such as DDCA boss Arun Jaitley, apart from cricket greats Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Modi's only hope now is Pawar. But for a man who has made it a habit to defy the longest odds, this may finally prove a mountain too high to climb.

The top officials of BCCI are to meet in Mumbai on April 23. IPL franchise owners have been asked to attend the meeting from which Modi will be excluded. Sources say if Modi doesn't step down, then BCCI will convene special annual general meeting to oust him. Sources say BCCI President Shashank Manohar and secretary N Srinivasan are planning to move a resolution against Modi at the board's working committee meeting on May 2. The resolution could either reduce Modi's powers in the IPL, or remove him from it altogether.

The meeting will discuss allegations against Modi and all other issues related to the Kochi IPL franchise bid. The BCCI working committee meeting would be preceded by a meeting of the IPL's governing council on April 25.

Parallel probes into IPL ordered

The government has ordered parallel probes by virtually all its economic intelligence units into the sources and use of funds by franchisees of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to unearth possible tax evasions and flouting of rules. "I can assure you that all aspects of IPL will be probed, inclusive of the sources of funding, how these funds were routed and invested," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha Monday.

"I can assure honourable members that no guilty or wrong-doer will be spared," he said Monday, the day a communiqué from Rashtrapati Bhavan said President Pratibha Patil has accepted the resignation of Shashi Tharoor as minister of state for external affairs. Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid also hinted at independent investigations by regulators attached with his ministry but ruled out suo motu action on the possible violations of the Companies Act by IPL and its franchisees.

"Why should there be any suo motu action from the ministry? There are regulators for everything. If they refer something to us, then we will look at it," Khurshid told reporters here Monday. "We look only at filings and the appropriate dates of filing. If we find any deficiency, then we take action," he said. "If there are violations, these are to be judged by the Registrar of Companies, since they are the ones who monitor companies."

A probe by the tax department had already first started with the Kochi franchise of IPL last Wednesday after a political row over allegations that Tharoor's friend, Sunanda Pushkar, had received sweat (free) equity from the company called Rendezvous Sports World for the professional services she would render over the next ten years. After that, officials from the income tax department visited various offices of the IPL in Mumbai and questioned its commissioner Lalit Modi. Based on the documents collected, the tax probe was then extended to other cities as well.

Now, all the wings of the finance ministry have been roped in, officials said. "Parallel investigations will now be made by four of our agencies. This will be coordinated by the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau," a senior official in the finance ministry said. "As a matter of principle, we will be probing every person who may be involved - whether directly or indirectly. A host of issues may be involved, service tax, black money, corporate tax, misuse of incorporation status," the official added.

Tharoor fallout:

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee made clear in the Parliament on Monday that there would be an inquiry into the IPL and action would be taken against the guilty. The ruling Congress now plans to hit back at the BJP, questioning their links with Lalit Modi and the Reddy brothers of Bellary.

Senior Congress leader Vyalar Ravi says, "Lalit Modi has links with the BJP, what about involvement with Bellary brothers." To begin with, the government is training its guns on IPL chief Modi, ordering an inquiry into the IPL source of funding and other financial transaction.

Criticism of the IPL by other political parties have helped the Congress which now believes the BJP cannot get away unscathed. It claims to have evidence against some BJP leaders. Besides, the party says the two Reddy brothers in Yeddyurappa Cabinet of Karnataka, have made money in the Bellary mining scam, apart from alleging that some BJP leaders have also profited from the IPL along with Modi.

While Tharoor's exit from the Union Cabinet is unlikely to affect the Congress party's fortunes, the entire episode will have an effect on the BJP's future.

Modi and IPL:

Lalit Modi made an advance tax payment of Rs 19 lakh in 2007. In 2008, when the first edition of IPL was launched, the advance tax shot up to Rs 2.5 crore. In 2009, when the IPL was shifted to South Africa, Modi paid Rs 32 lakh as advance tax, but in 2010, the advance tax component has gone upto Rs 11 crore.

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