'Rajasthan sports body forwarded Lalit Modi's name for Padma award'

In a new expose, a media report on Wednesday said that the Rajasthan State Sports Council, a state government body, had forwarded the name of controversial former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi for a Padma award during Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's previous tenure in office.

In a letter to principal secretary (Youth Affairs and Sports in July 2007 the council said: "We are forwarding documents of Lalit Modi for the Padma award for necessary action," the Dainik Bhaskar reported on its website.

The documents forwarded were a profile of Modi, who was the then president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), and details of his businesses.

Raje was the chief minister from 2003 to 2008 and it is during this time that the state government is said to have requested Modi to forward his profile for the coveted award.

The Rajasthan State Sports Council recommends the names of sportspersons from the state for the coveted Padma awards.

Raje, along with External Afffairs Minister, has been in the midst of a raging controversey for having testified in favour of Modi's British immigration application in 2011.

Ater this revelation, there has been pressure on Raje to quit following charges of "financial dealings" with Modi.

The opposition Congress demanded Raje's resignation citing an election affidavit of 2014 in which she had mentioned holding shares in company owned by her son Dushyant Singh, alongside Lalit Modi.

After few days Congress claimed there was a "criminal nexus" between Raje and Modi

by producing fresh documents in support of its claim that the Dholpur Palace, which has been converted into a private heritage hotel, was a state-owned property. The BJP has refuted the charge as "baseless".