Lalit Modi quizzed for 8 hrs by I-T officials over IPL deals
Press Trust of India / Mumbai Apr 16, 2010, 11:52 IST
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi was quizzed for eight hours by I-T officials over financial dealings and share holding patterns of the cricketing body and several places in the city were visited by tax sleuths to find out details of bidding process.
Income Tax officials visited Indian Premier League headquarters at Wankhede Stadium as also Modi's office at Nirlon House in upmarket Worli, where they quizzed him from 7.15 pm yesterday till 3.20 am today.
After the tax sleuths left, Modi told reporters, "They (the officials) were given documentation details, they verified the documents and went through the entire process of bidding. We fully cooperated with them and provided them with all they required."
Modi said the officials saw the documents related to bidding by new franchisees owned by Sahara and Kochi consortium as well as those related to other IPL franchisees.
According to I-T sources, the agency, apart from probing the sources bankrolling the cash-flush league, is looking into whether ill-gotten money stashed away in tax havens like Mauritius has made its way into the IPL.
On his quizzing, he said, "The questioning was over in a few minutes, but it took them longer as they had to go through the documents."
"They were very much satisfied. We are a public body and if they have more queries, we will answer them," he said on whether I-T authorities sought more time to question him.
The IPL chief rubbished media reports that his laptop was seized and unaccounted cash recovered from his office. "99 per cent of stories being put out by the media are untrue."
The I-T officials visited several places in the city in a bid to find out details of the bidding process and he said when he came to know of it, he invited them over to his office.
Modi, the brain behind IPL, has been in the eye of a storm ever since he tweeted about Rs 70 crore sweat equity in Kochi franchise being held by Sunanda Pushkar, a friend of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
It triggered speculation about Sunanda being a proxy for Tharoor in the Kochi consortium, a charge which the Minister has vehemently denied.
Raising questions about the propriety over a Union Minister allegedly having a proxy stake in an IPL franchise, the BJP and Left have demanded Tharoor's resignation.
During the I-T inquiry at the IPL office here, Ratnakar Shetty, Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI, which owns the T-20 body, was also present at the building, the sources said.
Shetty and I-T officials, however, refused to entertain reporters' queries.
Immediately after the I-T officials visited the offices of BCCI-IPL, Modi rushed to the headquarters to meet them. Thereafter, Modi and I-T officials moved to Nirlon House in Worli area where IPL Commissioner's offices are located.
Modi said the I-T team's visit was only an inquiry and not a raid. He also said the IPL will "fully cooperate" in the inquiry.
The sources said the I-T department has created a special cell here to keep a tab on all income generated by the IPL and maintained that the probe has been initiated to find out if there is any illegal flow of funds or whether any black money is being pumped into the sporting extravaganza including from foreign shores.
Giving another twist to the IPL saga, Kochi franchise spokesman and former MP Satyajit Gaekwad had alleged that the IPL boss was acting under pressure from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who after failing to secure a franchise for the state-based Adani Group, wanted the Kochi franchise to shift base to Ahmedabad.
Gaekwad, however, later retracted his statement.
Meanwhile, sources said the BCCI will discuss the issue in its working committee meeting on April 24.
Amid reports that BCCI President Shashank Manohar is likely to be appointed Co-Chairman of IPL, the former chief of the Board and Union Minister Sharad Pawar has virtually ruled out such a possibility.
"Since Manohar is BCCI President, it would not be proper to jointly head the IPL, which is a sub-committee of the apex cricketing body in the country," Pawar said.
IPL has become a big commercial Entertainment event. It has everything to do with Money, glamour and controversies nowadays. Government should seriously consider levy of hefty entertainment and income taxes on IPL events. When Government can collect tonnes of money on economic / infrastructure activities like bandwidths, spectrums and Licencees for Telecom Circles, why not on IPL? It really puts starins on public resources like Security of high profile players and participants. Levies of extra taxes are jutified. Government should also collect taxes on free entry passes distributed, date receipts, income of players, and other asociated with IPL events.
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