BCCI to look into Lalit Modi’s ‘interest’ in 3 IPL teams

Former commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Lalit Modi (Source: File)

A day after The Indian Express reported on emails that referred to former IPL chief Lalit Modi’s “beneficial interest” in three IPL teams, the BCCI decided Thursday to refer the matter to its legal department which will also take the help of its Anti-Corruption Unit.

When the Lalit Modi issue came up at a meeting of the IPL governing council, a few members said that the council should refrain from taking a decision based on a newspaper report. But BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said that the matter should be referred to the legal committee and the ACU. The matter is expected to be discussed further at a meeting of the BCCI working committee Friday.

The governing council had met to discuss recommendations of the four-member working group that was formed in the wake of the Lodha Committee verdict that suspended the owners of IPL teams CSK and RR for two years.

The Indian Express reported that a draft trust deed in the form of a “letter agreement”, included in a fresh set of emails purportedly linked to Lalit Modi, referred to his alleged “beneficial interest” in three IPL teams.

The May 19, 2015 email was from Australia-based attorney Dean Kino to Lalit Modi and his brother Samir Modi. When contacted, Kino acknowledged the email and said: “… the potential cricket interests of Lalit were based on guess work rather than facts.”