I am targetted to defame Pawar: City Corp MD

Aniruddha Deshpande, managing director of City Corp, which lost the IPL bid for the Pune franchise, alleged on Monday that he was being used as a vehicle to defame Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar. He, however, made it clear that he did not know the forces behind the vilification campaign against Pawar.

Deshpande said Pawar and his family members — wife Pratibha and MP daughter Supriya Sule — who hold shares in the company had no involvement as he had bid for the franchise in his individual capacity.

Deshpande, a commerce graduate who is now a leading player in the fast growing realty and construction sector in Pune, told Business Standard, “It seems I am being used as a vehicle to defame Pawar. I am a too small a person to make any comment on who is behind this entire controversy.”

To a question on whether the ongoing controversy was the result of differences between suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and the BCCI or was it a Congress game plan to further cut Pawar to size, Deshpande said it was beyond him to comment.

A 46-year-old motor sports and cricket lover strongly defended Pawar and reiterated that he had bid in his individual capacity and it was cleared by the board of directors of City Corp. Desphande’s comment deserves significance, especially when opposition parties have strongly demanded Pawar’s resignation and want the Prime Minister to take action against him.

On why the bid was submitted on City Corp’s name, Deshpande said it was purchased in the company’s name and therefore he had to file the bid under the same name.

“However, I had submitted to the IPL governing council before the auction of the Pune team that City Corp has procured the tender documents in its name and is submitting the bid on behalf of a new entity to be formed in the event of a successful bid.”

The letter also clearly mentioned that the “the current stake/share holders of City Corp are not necessarily stake/shareholders in the new entity proposed to be formed for the implementation of the IPL franchisee, Pune, in case of a successful bid.”

He had informed the IPL governing council that the new final stakes/shareholders would be intimated to the IPL after a successful bid. “All necessary documents and letters were submitted before the auction. It was not an after thought,” he added.

According to Deshpande, he had also requested the IPL governing council to allow 10 days to arrange for a bank guarantee after the successful bidder was announced. “My request was accepted by the IPL governing council,” he noted.

To a question on whether any investigation agency, including the income tax department, had approached him or sought details of the deal, Deshpande replied in the negative. “What information will they seek? What I have is a copy of a failed bid which was purchased at Rs 5 lakh.”