Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shashank Manohar has challenged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) notice against him in the Bombay high court. The ED had on June 6 issued a notice against him over allegations of foreign exchange violations in the IPL tournament held in South Africa in 2009. However, Mr Manohar has claimed that it was former IPL chairman Lalit Modi who was responsible for the alleged transactions.
The case is related to the transfer of US$5,00,00,000 done by the BCCI and IPL to a bank account in South Africa in 2009, when Mr Manohar was the BCCI president and the IPL was held in South Africa due to a terror attack in Mumbai.
The ED has initiated adjudication proceedings against Mr Manohar under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera).
Senior counsel Raju Subramanium, appearing for the former BCCI chief, argued, “Mr Modi spearheaded the IPL idea and hence all major decisions were taken by him after approval from the committee. In fact, Mr Manohar had advised the IPL governing council to first take permission from the RBI and then open the account in South Africa,” Mr Subramanium said. He argued that the account opened in South Africa was not of BCCI, but of IPL.
“Mr Manohar has been embroiled in this only because of the position he held as president. He is willing to go for a personal hearing, but the Fera is a quasi-criminal offence. And hence, there is possibility of prosecution,” the counsel said.
Additional solicitor general Kevic Setalvad opposed the petition on the ground that the inquiry is at a preliminary stage. “The ED is not saying that Mr Manohar is guilty. He has been only asked to come for an inquiry. Under Fera, the punishment is only by way of penalty,” he said. A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M.S. Sanklecha heard the arguments and reserved its order.
“US$5 crore were transferred to the account... There is a loss of foreign exchange,” Mr Setalvad added.