Mumbai, October 14: Sacked Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi’s lawyer Thursday expressed ignorance of any move by any government agency to revoke or cancel Modi’s passport.
Advocate M. Abdi said that he learned only from the media about the alleged move by the Enforcement Directorate to get Modi’s passport cancelled.
“We have not got anything directly from any agency, nor has anything been copied to us. It is surprising since Modi has been fully co-operating with the Enforcement Directorate in the best possible manner through his lawyers and attorneys, he has responded to each and every summons on time, provided all documents or explanations as sought by the directorate,” Abdi said, in a statement issued here.
Despite repeated attempts, senior officials of the directorate in Mumbai and Delhi remained unavailable for their version.
Abdi said that they had replied in detail to the directorate’s show cause notice issued Tuesday. “We expect them to decide about our reply to that notice first,” he said.
Criticising the reported move to cancel or suspend Modi’s passport, Abdi said that if the news was true, then “it is an extreme step which puts an individual’s liberty at stake”.
Terming Modi’s decision not to remain present personally arising out of “a grave and alleviated threat perception” to his life, Abdi said that he had offered to remain present before the Indian High Commission in Britain, or remain present through video-conferencing.
Abdi said that the investigating agencies and police are well aware of these issues.
The alleged move to revoke Modi’s passport came a day after the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) lodged a complaint against him in Chennai, accusing him of misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs.4.7 billion.
Earlier, the ED had issued a Blue Corner Notice through Interpol against Modi in connection with the ongoing probe into the IPL scam.
–Agencies