Speaking a day after the tribunal’s verdict, Lalit said the ruling brought an end to a legal battle that had lasted 16 years and vindicated his stand on the decisions taken during the 2009 IPL season.
A day after receiving major relief from the Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) in the long-running FEMA case linked to the 2009 IPL in South Africa, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi plans to return to India by the end of this year or early next year.
Speaking a day after the tribunal’s verdict, Lalit said the ruling brought an end to a legal battle that had lasted 16 years and vindicated his stand on the decisions taken during the 2009 IPL season.
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“I’m really happy with the verdict yesterday. It’s really been a great day. Sixteen years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth,” he said.
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“I’m really happy that the tribunal has ruled in my favour. I was only concerned with the well-being of the IPL and nothing and nothing at all. That is the most dear to me,” he added.
Lalit also said he now hopes to return to India after spending years abroad. “Now that chapter is behind me, I’m going to move on in my life and I’m looking forward to coming back to India. I will come back probably end of this year or early next year. My daughter is due with my grandson in October and hopefully everything will be well and I’ll be back in India,” he said.
Tribunal grants major relief
The Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA has rejected most of the Enforcement Directorate’s findings and penalties against the BCCI and its office-bearers – N Srinivasan, MP Pandove and Lalit Modi, the secretary, treasurer and vice-president, respectively, at that time.
The case dates back to the BCCI’s decision to shift the 2009 IPL season to South Africa because of security concerns during India’s general elections.
The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that foreign exchange worth USD 49.86 million (more than Rs 243 crore at current value) was transferred outside India without prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India. It issued FEMA show-cause notices in 2011 and later passed penalty orders in 2018 against Lalit, former BCCI officials and others, who subsequently challenged the orders before the SAFEMA Appellate Tribunal.
In its 105-page order dated July 16, a division bench comprising Chairman Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Member Rajesh Malhotra held that Lalit was not responsible for the alleged FEMA violations.
The tribunal observed that Lalit was “not in-charge of the affairs and otherwise he has been framed in the case without any material showing his responsibility.”
It further ruled: “The penalty imposed on Shri Lalit Modi is wholly erroneous is thus interfered.”
The tribunal also rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s primary argument, holding that the foreign remittances related to the 2009 IPL were current account transactions rather than capital account transactions. It further concluded that Lalit was neither responsible for BCCI’s FEMA compliance nor vested with the financial authority alleged by the agency.
Following the verdict, Lalit issued a statement through his lawyer on Tuesday welcoming the order, saying, “The Tribunal has rejected the central premise on which the Enforcement Directorate’s case against me had been built. It held that the principal foreign remittances relating to the staging of IPL 2009 in South Africa were current account transactions, not capital account transactions, thereby overturning the foundation of the earlier findings.”
“The Tribunal also found that I was neither responsible for BCCI’s statutory FEMA compliance nor vested with the financial authority alleged by the Enforcement Directorate, and it has set aside the penalties imposed on me in the principal proceedings. This marks the conclusion of what has been the single most significant legal matter arising from the 2009 South Africa IPL. For over sixteen years I have consistently maintained one simple position: I acted in good faith, in the best interests of Indian cricket and the IPL, and committed no personal wrongdoing.”
Reflecting on the decision to move the league to South Africa, he said, “The decision to move the tournament to South Africa in 2009 was taken under extraordinary circumstances when India’s general elections made it impossible to host the tournament at home. The successful staging of that season ensured that the IPL survived and ultimately became one of the world’s most valuable sporting properties.”
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