Pranab briefs PM on IPL-Gate probe

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday briefed the Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh, on the ongoing investigation against the owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams.

During the briefing, Mukherjee explained to Singh how bids for franchisees were made.

Reportedly, Singh and Mukherjee also discussed the names of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Praful Patel and Supriya Sule being drawn into the IPL controversy.

Patel was drawn into the controversy when he confirmed media reports that his private secretary had e-mailed former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor documents containing projections of the new franchisee valuations in the IPL.

The confirmation comes just two days after Patel categorically denied any role in the Indian Premier League.

However, it has now emerged that Patel''s secretary, Champa Bharadwaj,  had forwarded a mail to Tharoor''s personal mail account on March 19, two days before the bids were opened.

It happened hours after IPL CEO Sundar Raman sent the document to Patel’s daughter and IPL hospitality manager Poorna Patel.

The Kochi consortium surprisingly made the second-highest bid.

Patel now says that it was Tharoor who had sought his help.

"Shashi Tharoor called me because he was putting together a team. He wanted me to speak to Lalit Modi and help him out. This has got nothing to do with IPL. This is a needless controversy," claims Patel.