New Delhi:
Lalit Modi is likely to quit his Indian Premier League posts after the tournament final this weekend, sources have said.
The finals of IPL Season 3 will be played in Mumbai on Sunday, April 25.
The sources said Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Shashank Manohar is in the Capital and will meet NCP chief Sharad Pawar today to discuss Modi's ouster. In a decision that will no doubt rub salt into Modi's wounds, it's arch-rival Manohar who is likely to head the IPL, which functions as a sub-committee of the BCCI. (
Forum: Can the IPL survive without Lalit Modi's vision?)
Pawar had held an informal meeting with BCCI colleagues in Dubai, with Manohar on a conference call.
Modi returns from Dubai this evening to face the heat from the BCCI bigwigs.
Sources had earlier told NDTV that the BCCI had decided Modi would have to step down as Commissioner and Chairman of the IPL. His term may end abruptly on April 26, when he may be asked to give up key positions with the BCCI and the IPL.
While the IPL governing council will meet on April 26 to recommend that Modi should resign, the BCCI working committee meeting is scheduled for May 2 to take action against Modi.
Meanwhile, the polemics exchanged by Tharoor and Modi have led to a government decision to body-scan the IPL in its entirety, with special focus on who exactly bankrolls the different teams, and how.
INCOME TAX INVESTIGATES KOCHI TEAM, FIRST
The income tax department has started investigating the consortium that owns the new Kochi IPL team, sources have said. It is the stakeholding pattern of this team that led to much controversy and eventually the resignation of Minister of External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
Income tax officials in Pune have sought details from the Gaikwad family on the source of funds, the sources said, adding that officials were unlikely to question Tharoor's girlfriend Sunanda Pushkar at this stage. Sunanda had surrendered her sweat equity in the franchise valued at about Rs 70 crore this weekend, hours before Tharoor resigned.
Sources have said all Kochi consortium owners will be asked to furnish details on source of funds. Other IPL team owners are likely to be questioned next week.
On Monday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had announced in Parliament that the crores poured into the billion-dollar league are being investigated, one cricket team at a time.
"The concerned department has already started investigation process (into the IPL episode). All aspects including sources of funding and routes through which the funds arrived would be looked into. Appropriate action as per law would be taken. No guilty or wrong-doer will be spared," Mukherjee said on Monday, after the Opposition said the IPL was a mess of "gambling and betting." (
Read: IPL a gambling ring, says Opposition)
THE MODI-THAROOR SAGA
While Modi's wounds are self-inflicted, the Congress will throw its entire weight behind ripping the bandage off. Sources say that the Congress is keen to highlight that Tharoor, who was made to quit as minister of state for external affairs on Sunday night, was not the only one who could be faulted for impropriety. In Modi's case, the charges will be far stronger.
A week ago, Modi unleashed upon the country, in a frenzy of tweets, the allegations that Tharoor lobbied for a consortium to win the Kochi IPL franchise because his girlfriend, Sunanda Pushkar, would be rewarded with equity worth 70 crores. The minister insisted he had done nothing wrong, telling NDTV in an exclusive interview that he would not resign. (
Read & watch: Won't resign over IPL controversy, says Tharoor) | (
Full transcript of Tharoor's interview to NDTV)
The Opposition pounced upon Tharoor for missing his office, and for allegedly using Pushkar as a front.
But Modi had gone a couple of tweets too far. His revelations led to demands, from different quarters, that the government clean up what's been dubbed the Indian Paisa League. Modi may have been aiming for Tharoor when he burst open the cupboard of IPL skeletons; but many of those bare-bone secrets have been placed there by rich and powerful players, including, allegedly Modi.
Despite demurrals that he has nothing to hide, Modi's friends and family are co-owners of three different IPL teams, and the new government-ordered inquiries will ascertain whether these are fronts for Modi. Sources say 4500 of his transactions are being checked out by tax officials. (
Read: It is not Modi vs Tharoor, says Lalit Modi)
WHO STANDS WHERE
What has the BCCI furious, many say, is that Modi has landed the entire company, of sorts, in a gigantic mess. There are three different agencies - the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate and the Corporate Affairs Ministry all investigating the source of funds for IPL team-owners. (
Watch: Corporate Affairs Ministry can step in, says Khurshid)
Ownership structure, tax returns, violations of foreign exchange or foreign investment rules will be catalogued. And where listed companies have bought into the IPL, the investigating officials will check whether necessary shareholder approvals have been taken.
The IPL has been asked, to submit by Friday, documents that support the different bids made for the current eight franchises, as well as the two new ones for Kochi and Pune, auctioned last month. Details of the payments for different players have also been sought.
The BCCI's own financial history will be calibrated carefully, and this may irk Modi's colleagues more than anything else. Its tax records with regard to the IPL have to be submitted.
The Congress has been left embarrassed by Tharoor's role. As it body-scans the IPL, it runs the risk of crossing paths with a close ally, Union Minister Sharad Pawar, who has been a staunch supporter of Modi.
With Modi likely to quit after the IPL final on April 25, a meeting later this month of the IPL's governing council and one in early May of the BCCI Working Committee are likely to see the end of Modi's innings. (
Read: Lalit Modi pays Rs 11 cr advance tax in 2009-10)
Within the IPL's governing council, Modi's three biggest detractors are IPL vice-president Niranjan Shah, BCCI chief Shashank Manohar and N Srinivasan, BCCI secretary.
Those still rooting for Modi are former cricketers Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.
Taking the middle path, for now, are Rajiv Shukla, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.