July 15: Suspended IPL chairman Lalit Modi suffered a massive setback on Thursday after the Bombay High Court dismissed his plea to stay disciplinary proceedings initiated against him by the cricket control board.
The division bench said that Modi’s demand to reconstitute the panel set up by BCCI to probe a raft of allegations against him was an “internal matter” of the board, and something that the court could not interfere in. The decision puts the controversial administrator in a pickle since he is now legally obligated to attend the disciplinary committee meeting to be held in Mumbai on Friday.
Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi, however, said his client was out of the country and the next step would be decided after receiving the court’s order. “It is not a setback,” Abdi said.
The committee, comprised of IPL interim chairman Chirayu Amin, Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia, has to submit its findings to the BCCI on the alleged financial bunglings committed by Modi and suggest appropriate punishment.
Monday’s meeting was supposed to be the first of a series of interactions up until the board’s AGM in the first week of October. With Modi away, the panel can either go ahead with the proceedings assuming the suspended commissioner is admitting to the charges or issue a fresh date.