Mumbai, April 16: Days after he crossed swords with minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, Lalit Modi, the all-powerful Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner, found himself sinking deeper into trouble.
While speculation ran high on Thursday over his survival as commissioner and chairman of the IPL, Modi had to face intense grilling from income-tax sleuths.
There were raids in Modi’s three offices in Mumbai on Thursday evening.
Income-tax officers raided the fourth floor of the office of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The IPL office is housed on that floor.
Simultaneously, a raid was conducted at Nirlon House at Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai, which is Modi’s business office. The taxmen also raided Modi’s room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli, from where he has been operating since the third season of the league began last month.
While Modi said the income-tax department was merely conducting an inquiry and not a raid, a senior official of the cricket board confirmed that these were actually raids.
The operation was on till well past midnight. Modi himself was grilled at Nirlon House. The exact nature of questions was not clear, but the inquisition is believed to have gone on for a long time.
Sources said Modi’s laptop and several files were seized by the officers.
A senior income-tax officer said the decision on an investigation was taken following the brouhaha involving Modi and Tharoor.
The process intensified after allegations that a friend of Tharoor was holding a stake in the Kochi IPL team ostensibly in the form of ‘sweat equity’.
“We are seeking details of the terms and conditions of the bid, the source of funding of each of the partners in the franchise, their stakes, etc. We need to check this as the funding may have come through improper channels,” said the officer.
The department first sought to merely issue a notice asking Modi to submit details of the bid. “The notice was later converted into a survey [search] as the bosses were not satisfied with the answers,” said the officer.
The officer did not rule out the possibility of an inquiry against members of the Kochi consortium, too.
About 20 income-tax officers were involved in the investigation which was expected to continue through the night.
Reports said the department had created a special cell in Mumbai to keep tabs on all income generated by the IPL.
The probe, it is believed, was initiated to find out if there had been any illegal flow of funds or if any black money was being pumped into the sports and entertainment extravaganza from foreign shores.
The raids came on a day when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded an inquiry into the source of certain funds flowing into the tournament and asked the government to reconsider if tax exemptions or concessions were justified for this commercial enterprise.
“There is an inquiry. It is not a raid. The I-T officials are possibly looking for the details of the tender [for the Kochi team]. We will extend all possible cooperation to them,” Modi was quoted as saying by a news agency.
–Agencies–