The Hindu Business Line : Chirayu Amin made interim chief of IPL

The IPL Governing Council met on Monday morning to discuss the controversy over various financial irregularities and to decide on the future course of action.

The BCCI President, Mr Shashank Manohar, told reporters that former captains, Mr Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Mr Sunil Gavaskar and Mr Ravi Shastri will be part of a panel to look into the organisation and planning of the next round of IPL matches. They will also discuss the modalities of team structuring with franchises.

The BCCI Chief Administrative Officer, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, will scout for records needed by the Income-Tax Department for its investigation, he added.

Mr Modi has been given 15 days to respond to the charges against him. “If his reply is convincing, the proceedings will be dropped. Otherwise, the BCCI will begin a formal internal inquiry against him,” said Mr Manohar.

Charge-sheet

Mr Modi was served a 34-page charge-sheet via e-mail soon after Chennai Super Kings won IPL-III. The notice dwelt upon 5 charges of impropriety under five categories: ownership structure and bidding of Rajasthan Royal and King XI Punjab, accepting a kickback while assigning television rights with Multi-Screen Media (MSM), Internet rights, attempting to rig the bids of two new franchisees that were auctioned last month and misconduct by disclosing confidential details in public domain.

Mr Manohar said that “public faces” of the teams – such as Ms Shilpa Shetty and her husband Mr Raj Kundra – did not even feature in the shareholding papers. “The bid was bought by the UK-based Emerging Media and submitted by a company called Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt Ltd. They claim to be shareholders of Rajasthan Royals but I did not find their names,” he said, insisting that the Governing Council was not aware of Mr Modi's modus operandi.

Missing papers

Mr Manohar said that some important documents were missing from the BCCI and IPL offices. “The Income-Tax Department has been asking for them but we do not have them. Likewise, the papers of the broadcast deal with Sony are not with us,” Mr Manohar added.

By suspending Mr Modi late Sunday night, the BCCI ensured that he will not be able to attend the Governing Council meeting. The decision came after the former IPL chief added yet another twist to the high-drama tale by tweeting that he would chair the meeting. This was after he had reiterated that he would not be attending it.

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