With his back to the wall, Lalit Modi remains defiant

Amid intense speculation of his impending ouster, Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi struck a defiant note on Tuesday, stating he had no plans to resign. Not many in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), however, are buying his bravado.

 “I will present all the facts against all the allegations. There is nothing to worry about and we will carry on,” Modi said after returning from an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Dubai in the morning. His detractors do not think he stands a chance, especially not after dragging the political establishment into the Kochi IPL franchise muddle.

“He (Modi) has to decide if he wants to die with or without pain,” said a BCCI official rather uncharitably.

 The writing on the wall was clear when Sharad Pawar, Modi’s most powerful backer in the cricketing establishment, refused to bail him out. According to BCCI insiders, when board president Shashank Manohar called on him on Tuesday afternoon, Pawar told him straightaway to sack Modi.

“Modi’s continuation as the IPL boss has become untenable following the damning reports against him,” Manohar is believed to have conveyed to the senior minister. Pawar, who was confronted by his cabinet colleagues over his reported interest in the IPL earlier in the day, gave the go-ahead to Manohar’s suggestion without much hesitation.

 The BCCI president also met his colleagues Arun Jaitley and Rajiv Shukla in Delhi. The three are reported to have decided on the mechanism to remove Modi at the meeting.

One plan is to ask him to resign at the governing council meeting on April 26. If Modi resists, the council may strip him of all the powers and appoint an interim panel, headed by Manohar, to oversee the functioning of the IPL.

Following that, Manohar would convene a special general body meeting at short notice to have him impeached. Meanwhile, the board president would invoke Rule 32 of the BCCI constitution and suspend Modi with a show cause notice.

However, Pawar, when confronted by the media on the fate of the IPL commissioner, refused to divulge anything. “No decision has been taken on Modi. It is only speculation. We can only come to a decision after the governing council of the IPL meets on April 26,” he said.

He also clarified that the board doesn’t have the power to sack him instantly. “We are not vested with the authority to take a decision on our own.

The governing council will not interfere in the basic right of the members. Don’t forget that Modi is a vice-president of the BCCI. We have always taken collective and unanimous decisions and that is what will happen in this case too,” Pawar told the media after his meeting with Manohar.