Lalit Modi, the former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman, has been banned for life by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The decision came after a Special General Meeting (SGM) of the BCCI on Wednesday (September 25), where a report filed by the Disciplinary Committee, which found Modi guilty on eight different charges of “indiscipline and misconduct” relating to financial and administrative matters of the IPL, was discussed at length. Although Modi’s lawyers filed a Special Leave Petition and requested the Supreme Court to stall the SGM, it was ignored, giving BCCI the green signal to take action.
“Resolved that Mr. Lalit Modi is guilty of committing acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline, and therefore, in exercise of powers as per Regulation 32 of the Memorandum and Rules and Regulations of the Board, Mr. Lalit Modi be and is hereby expelled from the BCCI,” read the statement by Sanjay Patel, the secretary of the BCCI. “He shall forfeit all his rights and privileges as Administrator. He shall not in future be entitled to hold any position or office, or be admitted in any Committee or any member or associate member of the Board.”
The motion to expel Modi was proposed by Anirudh Chaudhary, the secretary of Haryana Cricket Association and seconded by Ranjib Biswal, the president of Orissa Cricket Association.
“Not a single member in the meeting supported Modi and the House took a unanimous decision to impose a life ban,” said a BCCI official.
Modi, who was IPL chairman from 2008-2010, now lives in self-exile in London and currently holds no post in the BCCI, having already been removed as chairman and BCCI vice-president after the conclusion of the third edition of the tournament in 2010.
“I was already gone since I had been suspended for three years, so I expected the ban,” Modi told Times Now. “But I am going to fight them and the ban gives me more resolve to go after them.”
“Indian cricket needs cleansing and as far as I am concerned I am going to go after them. Till now they were colleagues. Time has now come to take everything out of the box and put it in (the) public domain,” he continued.
“I am coming after them. Wait and watch. I have not been sitting here (in London) idle.”
A disciplinary committee, comprising of Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia along with president Srinivasan, was formed to investigate the matter, but Srinivasan recused himself and Chirayu Amin, the then IPL chairman, was drafted in his place. Though Amin later recused himself, the two-member committee submitted a 134-page report, levelling serious charges against Modi, and suggested his actions during his stint as chairman were “to the detriment of the BCCI”.
The committee found Modi to be guilty of alleged rigging of bids by adding unreasonable clauses in the tender draft in 2010, when two new IPL teams were added to the existing eight. He was said to have been favouring two companies – Adani Group and Videocon – and the IPL Governing Council was unaware of the hidden clauses.
He has also been charged with tampering with the Internet and broadcast deals of the IPL and found guilty of trying to form a rebel league and creating a rift between the BCCI and the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Additionally, he has been charged with strong-arming Rendezvous Sports to give up their ownership of the Kochi franchise and found guilty of not having disclosed that one of his relatives had a stake in the company that purchased the IPL website rights.
Modi, who was being investigated by the government on corruption and money-laundering charges, has in the past denied all allegations against him.