Hours after the Bombay high court (HC) order, a member of the Lalit Modi camp put up a brave front saying Thursday’s judgment is not a setback for the suspended chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as being projected. He, however, confirmed that Modi will not attend the disciplinary committee hearing at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office on Friday.
“The court has left the constitution or reconstitution of the disciplinary committee to its members. So if our demand for the recusal of Chirayu Amin is not accepted, we will not recognise the committee,” a lawyer in the Modi camp told DNA. He said Modi will not face a committee that has Amin as its member. “We will leave Arun Jaitley up to his moral conscience whether he should be a member or not. He knows the law. But we cannot accept Amin as its member,” Modi counsel said. He also revealed senior lawyers will represent Modi at the disciplinary committee on Friday.
Meanwhile, the BCCI is likely to further tighten the noose around Modi. There are indications that the BCCI might initiate criminal proceedings against its suspended vice-president. The general body of the BCCI had recently authorised president Shashank Manohar to initiate appropriate civil and criminal proceedings against Modi.
At this stage, there have been no indications about the likely timeframe for an FIR against Modi but one learns that it will be sooner than later. “At some stage, we have to take this decision. It is imperative on our part to do this,” said a top BCCI official. Thursday’s HC order may have strengthened the BCCI’s resolve to see throw Modi out.
Modi, currently in Italy, could not be reached for comments. However, his lawyer said the camp will give a fitting reply whenever there is an FIR.
