The Bombay High Court on Sunday, 20 March gave a clean chit to Lalit Modi, in a long running case against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Modi, accused of misappropriation of funds after creating the Indian Premier League was banned for life from the BCCI and is currently in exile in the United Kingdom.
The Bombay High Court set aside an arbitral award in favour of the BCCI and stated that the earlier judgement had not taken relevant facts into consideration. The court also provided Lalit Modi with relief stating that he had not committed financial fraud and the facilitation fee of Rs 425 crore was not illegal.
The BCCI, in their original appeal, had built a case against Modi over this facilitation fee stating that they were entitled to the full amount claiming that they were not aware of it while entering the contract.
Justice BP Colabawala, in his ruling stated that BCCI had no right on the money and he could not understand, how the earlier ruling was made in favour of the cricketing body.
"I fail to understand how the Majority Award has come to this finding. Firstly, how BCCI is entitled to Rs.425 crores is something that is not explained in the Majority Award. From the documents on record, namely the Agreements entered into in the year 2009 as well as the Press Note issued by MSM dated 23rd April 2010, prima facie, it would appear that Rs.425 crores was to be paid to WSGM for giving up its India Rights for the period 2009-2017, and which had come to it by virtue of the DMAT read with the BCCI-WSGM MRLA dated 15th March 2009," Justice Colabawala said.
The case pertains to the early days of the IPL when BCCI and Sony Network got into an ugly battle after the success of the first edition of the tournament. Both parties mutually agreed to call off the deal for the coming years, which allowed BCCI to re-auction their broadcasting rights, helping them earn an extra Rs 1791 crores.
Lalit Modi wasted no time after the verdict and stated that he will be suing everyone who calls him a fugitive from now on.
"Time is a factor, I single-handedly built the IPL. Not that I care but the BCCI banned me for life. Guess what I made recession (economic slowdown of 2008) Modi proof. Mark my words it will be a global showpiece from India. It will be a big entertainment property globally. And I did it free of cost for my country to watch on TV.
"The sad part is the petty members, who live off my creation, are so scared of my shadow that they even refused entry to my children on a paid ticket. Only question now is what will media say - fugitive? Go ahead try. Now I will sue all in UK, then see the fun (sic)," Modi was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.