Jaitley, Manohar, Shah take tough stand against Modi

Suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) chairperson Lalit Modi was today taken to task by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which accused him of rigging bids for teams and other serious financial irregularities during his three-year reign as IPL chief.

At the IPL Governing Council meeting here, BCCI vice-president and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley took tough stance against Modi, who faces 15 days to reply to the charges against him, saying charges against him were non-negotiable.

Jailtely’s arguments against Modi were crucial as he was conspicuously silent when his party MPs were demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the alleged involvement of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel into the ongoing controversies over IPL.

Similar hard line was taken by BCCI President Shashank Manohar and IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah at the meeting.

“Jaitley argued that chargesheet be served against Modi and there should not be any compromise. Manohar was quite categorical that on several occasions, Modi acted unilaterally and did not take the board (BCCI) and the governing council into confidence before sealing various deals. He proposed that a 15-day time period be given to Modi to reply to a showcause notice by keeping a window open of dropping all charges if Modi gives satisfactory reply.” BCCI sources told Business Standard.

The lone support for Modi came from I S Bindra, who was quite critical about the board’s decision to suspend Modi. Bindra, who has been supporting Modi, is a member of the IPL governing council and president of the Punjab Cricket Association.

Former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar, a member of the governing council, preferred not to attack Modi but silently watched the deliberations.

Another former captain, M A K Pataudi, who has been demanding the appointment of a three-member committee to govern IPL, sought clarity on various contracts finalised during Modi’s tenure.