No relief for Lalit Modi

For Lalit Modi, there is no escaping the disciplinary committee (DC) appointed by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) now. Granting no relief to the suspended IPL chairman, the Bombay high court on Thursday rejected his petition seeking the reconstitution of the DC that would probe various allegations of irregularities levelled against Modi. Challenging his order of suspension, Modi had moved the high court last week against the BCCI.

The division bench of justice BH Marlapalle and justice Roshan Dalvi said in their order, “Without going into the merits and demerits, including the legality of the constitution of the disciplinary committee and including the integrity of the members, we deem it fit not to cause indulgence in our extra-ordinary jurisdiction.”

Modi had urged the court to quash the order of suspension and the disciplinary action initiated against him by the board. Modi had also contested the appointment of Chirayu Amin, the interim IPL chairman, Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia and on the disciplinary committee and asked the court to appoint an independent panel to assess his replies to  the three show cause notices.

Modi had alleged that Amin, who was an investor in the Pune consortium that bid unsuccessfully for one of the two new IPL franchises, cannot be a member of the disciplinary committee. He contended that he apprehended bias on the committee-members’ part.

Observing that the DC has limited powers of conducting the inquiry while the ultimate decision will be taken by the board, the judges said, “Question of recusal on moral grounds or intention to act in fairness or any other ground, should be left to the decision of the members of the DC.” They added, “Even if none of the members (of the DC) withdraws, nothing stops the petitioner (Modi) from challenging the constitution of the DC along with the challenge he may raise against the decision of the final order if any punishment is awarded to him.”

Modi’s constituted attorney Mehmood Abdi told reporters Modi is currently abroad and whether or not he will make an appearance before the DC is not known to him. “We have not yet decided out future course of action as it will be difficult to get a copy of the high court’s order in a day,” Abdi said.