Offering IPL to any scrutiny by any agency, its commissioner Lalit Modi on Friday said that the Income Tax authorities had sought details relating to two new franchises Kochi and Pune and have gone "satisfied".
Debunking reports that he was quizzed by IT officials for seven to eight hours last evening, Modi said in a telephonic interview "they wanted the name of bidders, the process of bidding and the details of the bids for the two new teams... we have complied with everything and they have gone back satisfied about the entire process."
Income Tax teams had visited IPL offices in BCCI at Wankhade Stadium as also Lalit Modi's offices in Worli, Mumbai, in the face of a controversy relating to the ownership of the Kochi franchisee after a successful bid of Rs 1,533 crore.
On the inquiry part, Modi said, "I was questioned for only 15-20 minutes and they wanted to know formally IPL's position on the bidders and the related issues. We explained it to them. They wanted all the relevant papers and to collect those relevant papers from 2-3 different places, it took some time."
The former BCCI chief and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had come out openly in support of Modi last evening saying "there in nothing wrong in disclosing the names of the stakeholders (of IPL franchisees) to the public."
His statement came amidst controversy over Modi questioning the ownership of the consortium that won the Kochi franchisee. It was alleged that minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor had a hand in his close friend Sunanda Pushkar getting free equity worth Rs 70 crore in IPL Kochi, a charge vehemently denied by the minister.
Pawar had also defended Tharoor saying his ministerial colleague's "basic interest" was to bring cricket to the centrestage in Kerala and provide opportunities to players from the state.
Asked if IT officials had sought details about other teams that were bid three years ago, Modi said "they had asked few questions on it and after they were told that information is in public domain, they did not seek further details."
During the I-T inquiry at the IPL office here, Ratnakar Shetty, Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI, which owns the T-20 body, was also present at the building, the sources said.
Shetty and I-T officials, however, refused to entertain reporters' queries.
Immediately after the I-T officials visited the offices of BCCI-IPL, Modi rushed to the headquarters to meet them. Thereafter, Modi and I-T officials moved to Nirlon House in Worli area where the IPL commissioner's offices are located.
Modi said the I-T team's visit was only an inquiry and not a raid. He also said the IPL will "fully cooperate" in the inquiry.
The sources said the I-T department has created a special cell here to keep a tab on all income generated by the IPL and maintained that the probe has been initiated to find out if there is any illegal flow of funds or whether any black money is being pumped into the sporting extravaganza including from foreign shores.
Giving another twist to the IPL saga, Kochi franchise spokesman and former MP Satyajit Gaekwad had alleged that the IPL boss was acting under pressure from Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who after failing to secure a franchise for the state-based Adani Group, wanted the Kochi franchise to shift base to Ahmedabad.
Gaekwad, however, later retracted his statement. Meanwhile, sources said the BCCI will discuss the issue in its working committee meeting on April 24.
Amid reports that BCCI president Shashank Manohar is likely to be appointed co-chairman of IPL, the former chief of the board and Union minister Sharad Pawar has virtually ruled out such a possibility.
"Since Manohar is BCCI president, it would not be proper to jointly head the IPL, which is a sub-committee of the apex cricketing body in the country," Pawar said.
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