Modi's woes continue as court quashes petition
Trouble does not usually come in singles and twos, if one were to use the cricketing jargon. In this day and age of the T20 cricket, it is the boundaries and the sixes that count. And for Lalit Modi, the embattled former chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League, things are no different. Ever since the BCCI suspended Modi at the end of the final of the third edition of the IPL, things have only gone from bad to worse for Modi. And the latest ruling by the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 High Court only adds a further damper onto his chances of getting back to where he once was at one stage of his IPL career.
On Thursday, the Mumbai High Court decided to quash the petition that Modi had submitted to the court asking it to disband the disciplinary committee that was set up to question his role in the financial bungling and alleged fraud during the first three seasons of the tournament.
According to Modi, the disciplinary committee that consists of Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraitya Scindia, was a biased against him. Amin is the current, interim chairman of the IPL, whereas Jaitley and Scindia are Board members from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Madhya-Pradesh-c809 respectively. Modi’s contention was to appoint a new panel which consisted of members that both the parties, Modi and BCCI, would be comfortable with.
The High Court had heard the case yesterday, and decided that they would send the ruling on Thursday. The court ruled that it was not their judgment whether or not a particular disciplinary committee should decide on the course of action given that the richest cricket board in the world, was in fact, a society. So, it was an internal member for the BCCI to decide who sat on the disciplinary committee.
This also means that Modi will need to appear in front of the disciplinary committee that is said to convene tomorrow to start the proceedings against him. Modi is expected to fight his case in front of the disciplinary committee and once the proceedings are ended, the disciplinary committee will decide on the result. The deadline for the same is 26th of October.
The CAO of the BCCI, Ratnakar Shetty said of the High Court decision that it was significant because the BCCI could now expect Modi to appear in front of the pre-decided disciplinary committee.
Unfortunately for the BCCI, Modi might have other plans. His lawyer said that Modi will not be in a position to attend that disciplinary committee meeting because he is not in the country. However, the lawyer said that that Modi will be represented by his representative to who will still request the board to appoint a neutral and unbiased committee.
The lawyer also added that the High Court had said that they will not go into the positives or negatives of the case, and it was the prerogative of the BCCI to decide on whom to appoint.
Modi’s contention has been that Amin, who is the current interim chief, has a bias against him because it was Modi who had disclosed that Amin held a stake in one of the companies that lost the auction. Modi also said that given that it was this very committee which had been a part of those who had ratified the decision to recommend the case to the disciplinary committee, there will be a considerable bias against him from all three members.
Modi has been charged with finance-related frauds, in the bidding process, ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights surrounding his time as commissioner. There have also been charges against his desire to start off with a parallel IPL in England.
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