Modi’s plea dismissed by court

Suspended IPL chief Lalit Modi received a fresh blow after a court dismissed his plea to stay disciplinary proceedings.

MUMBAI: Suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi has received a fresh blow after a court dismissed his plea to stay disciplinary proceedings initiated against him by India’s cricket board. The Bombay High Court also rejected Modi’s demand that the three-member panel, set up by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to probe the allegations against him, be reconstituted. BCCI, which owns the IPL, set up the panel last month at the conclusion of the third edition of the hugely popular IPL tournament.

Modi has accused the current members, lawyer and politician Arun Jaitley, businessman Chirayu Amin and junior federal minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, of being biased against him.

The court’s order means the 46-year-old will have to appear before the panel to answer allegations of corruption, indiscipline and money-laundering in the Twenty20 league. BCCI chief executive Ratnakar Shetty welcomed the court order. “We don’t take this verdict in terms of victory or defeat. We followed a procedure and it was challenged by Mr Modi in the court. The court has given its directive and he has to appear before the committee,” said Shetty.

However Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi claims that his client was out of the country. “I cannot comment on our strategy and further plan at the moment,” said Abdi. The committee has time till October 25 to investigate and look into whether action should be taken against Modi, which could include his permanent expulsion from the BCCI.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2010.