Pawar in a spot, new letter shoots City Corp claim

New Delhi: The IPL controversy involving Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has taken another twist. Pawar has consistently maintained that the IPL bid made by a Pune-based company City Corporation in which his family has a stake was not made in the name of the company.

Pawar has maintained that the bid by City Corporation was made in the individual capacity by its managing director Aniruddha Deshpande and a board resolution to the effect was passed on March 17.

Yet, fresh documents with CNN-IBN show that right till the very end of the bidding process, the company name was used. CNN-IBN has accessed to a letter sent by the Maharashtra Cricket Association to City Corporation dated March 19, 2010. The letter clearly shows that the local association was under the impression that it was City Corporation and not Deshpande who was putting up the bid.

"MCA (Maharashtra Cricket Association) as a cricket association has had an interest in getting a bid for Pune irrespective of the fact who the bidder is?"(MCA) President Ajay Shirke.

The latest evidence of the Pune bid raises more questions on just where the truth lies.

Why would Deshpande impress upon future bidders that it was City Corporation who was bidding despite a board resolution? If Deshpande claims that the bid was to be in his individual capacity, why was the cricket board not informed of it? Most crucially, how much did Pawar know of the City Corporation bid?

With every passing day, the IPL controversy brings in a new twist and bringing with it fresh headaches for the man who is slated to be the next ICC president and is seen as the most powerful man in Indian cricket.

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