Exclusive: Who is Protecting Fugitive Lalit Modi? RTI Reveals No Action On Request For CBI Probe Against Modi
The article was originally published in The Logical Indian. Read here.
Lalit Modi, currently residing in London is wanted by Indian investigative agencies on several charges of corruption and money laundering. RTI filed by Saurav Das on behalf of The Logical Indian reveals that a request for CBI probe against him is pending for 3 years with a department headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Lalit Modi, the founder and ex-chairman of the highly lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies on cases of financial irregularities and tax evasion dating back to 2010. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) alleged that Modi, acting as the Chairman of IPL Governing Council defrauded it of 753 crore rupees in collusion with officials of the World Sports Group (WSG). WSG had won the IPL overseas media rights contract. WSG Mauritius was unable to find a broadcast partner and it entered into a facilitation agreement (Rs 425 crore) with MSM (Sony) before they won the IPL media rights for Indian sub-continent from BCCI.
On discovering this facilitation agreement, the BCCI led by its Honorary Secretary N. Srinivasan red-flagged the deal, called it ‘improper’ and reclaimed the rights. Modi was ousted from BCCI and banned for life. A police complaint was filed on October 13, 2010, by the BCCI, strangely in Chennai even though its headquarter is situated in Mumbai. The case had grabbed a lot of limelight and citizens were expecting that fugitive Lalit Modi would be brought to the country and justice be done, but as per the documents received under the Right to Information (RTI) filed by the author on behalf of The Logical Indian, it is reasonable to conclude that in fact, there is no on-going investigation in this particular case at all.
