At Srinivasan's behest, FIR filed against Lalit Modi

CHENNAI: The bitter feud between BCCI president-elect N Srinivasan and beleaguered former IPL czar Lalit Modi escalated on Wednesday as the Chennai city police registered an FIR against Modi and six others, at Srinivasan’s behest.
Modi and the others, including World Sports Group (WSG) officials, have been accused of criminal misappropriation, conspiracy and cheating.The case was registered soon after Srinivasan, who also owns IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, met city police commissioner T Rajendran and handed over a 25-page complaint on BCCI’s letterhead.
The FIR, filed under sections 405, 415, 420 and 120 (b) of IPC, focuses on contracts signed by IPL for telecast rights, advertizing and security for Rs 468 crore. Significantly, no stringent provisions for economic offences relating to money laundering and foreign exchange were invoked although central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, are already on Modi’s trail.
The complaint was filed in Chennai as the Board of Control for Cricket in India is registered in the southern city. Sources said the police has sought legal opinion to follow up on the case; any move to arrest Modi would be decided subsequently.
Among the six are Seamus O’Brien, the founder of World Sports Group (WSG), Venu Nair its India head and Andrew Georgiou, its chief operating officer.
"I decided to lodge a complaint against Lalit Modi and others in my capacity as the secretary of BCCI. The points in the complaint were all part of the showcause notice which BCCI served Lalit Modi. Since most of it had a criminal angle, the members of BCCI were of the opinion that a police complaint be lodged," Srinivasan told TOI.
Sources said BCCI has also submitted documents to substantiate the charges against Modi and the others. BCCI has alleged criminal misappropriation by Modi and the others during the last three IPL seasons in awarding of three major contracts - telecast rights (for which WSG was paid a facilitation fee of Rs 425 crore), free commercial space rights to MSM for Rs 29 crore and security arrangements for a company owned by Ajay Verma at Rs 14 crore.
BCCI has alleged that Modi and the others entered into criminal conspiracy and finalised the deals without a tendering process.
A Parliamentary standing committee had asked for registering an FIR against the president and other officials of BCCI over these allegations of fraud. However, the move now appears to be aimed at piling all misdeeds at Modi’s doorstep.