NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Lalit Modi, former Indian cricket administrator and ex-chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), seeking direction to BCCI to pay a penalty of `10.65 crore imposed on him by the ED for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
A two-judge vacation bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan, however, said that Modi would be entitled to avail of civil remedies as available according to law and established procedures laid down in the Constitution.
The Bombay High Court had on December 19 last year imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on Modi while dismissing the same petition.
The HC had observed that the adjudicating authority had personally imposed the penalty on Modi under FEMA, and there was no legal basis to direct the BCCI to pay the fine. “The petition of Modi is frivolous and wholly misconceived,” the HC had ruled.
Modi had submitted to the HC that as per BCCI bylaws, the BCCI must indemnify him. “During my tenure as the BCCI’s vice-president (Former) and chairman of the
Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council—a subcommittee of the BCCI—the board was obliged under its bylaws to indemnify him for actions taken in his official capacity,” Modi’s submission stated.
After relying on certain cases, including that of Zee Telefilms Ltd versus Union of India, the court stated that the BCCI was not obliged to pay under the definition of ‘State’ as per the term’s meaning assigned under Article 12 of the Constitution of India.
The Supreme Court, after going through Modi’s appeal, also refused to grant him relief.