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Tag: Lalit Modi

  • Swamy seeks transparency in IPL media rights through SC

    Swamy seeks transparency in IPL media rights through SC

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Premier League, which saw a brief lull in controversy with Lalit Modi preferring to remain overseas, appears to be in for another storm, this time over broadcast rights.

    Bharatiya Janata Party member and Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy has moved the Supreme Court seeking a transparent mechanism for auction of telecast rights of IPL cricket matches for the next five years. The auction is slated for 17 July 2017.

    Swamy told indiantelevision.com that his petition for e-auctioning of IPL media rights was expected to come up for hearing on Friday this week or Monday next week. He said that there is a requirement of non-discriminatory and transparent method, with the best international practices, to be adopted for distribution of the valuable media rights so as to ensure the maximum revenue in the larger national interest.

    The petition questioned the manner in which the rights worth Rs 250 billion to Rs 300 billion were being distributed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

    Seeking a stay of the present system, he said the huge investments make it mandatory to have the auction process robust, completely transparent in order to maximise the revenue and prevent vested interest from making undue gains.

    Swamy mentioned the matter before the bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar for early hearing of the matter as the BCCI next week.

    A lawyer himself, Swamy cited various orders of the apex court after finding irregularities committed by country’s apex cricket body. He said that as the BCCI was found having irregularities, illegalities, misappropriation and asymmetries in the functioning, the Supreme formed the Mudgal Committee as an investigator and then the Justice R M Lodha Committee was formed on 22 January 2015 by the Supreme Court.

    The Supreme Court on 30 January 2017 appointed a four-member committee of administrators headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai to run the affairs of the BCCI and implement court-approved recommendations of the Lodha panel on reforms.

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  • IPL ex-chief Lalit Modi to be extradited from UK

    IPL ex-chief Lalit Modi to be extradited from UK

    MUMBAI: A special court in Mumbai yesterday allowed the Indian law-enforcement authorities to extradite from the United Kindom Lalit Modi, the creator of highly-successful Indian IPL franchise which was recently in news for potentially fetching BCCI Rs 4500 crore in telecast rights.

    The PMLA court permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to send a Letter of Request (LR) to government in the UK for execution of a non-bailable warrant against the former IPL commissioner, and his transfer to India for facing probe in a money-laundering case.

    The ED is investigating a case against Modi in connection with a 2008 deal between World Sports Group (WSG) and Multi Screen Media (MSM) for IPL television rights to the tune of Rs 425 crore. The BCCI had registered a case in Chennai in this connection, followed by a case by the ED under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The directorate is probing Modi for misappropriation of funds from IPL during his tenure.

    The agency had on 8 November sought necessary steps to be taken by the competent authorities in the UK for locating him. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court permitted the prayer. “The LR order will now be sent to the External Affairs Ministry, which will forward it to the competent authority in England for further action,” said special ED counsel Hiten Venegoankar.

    So far, three LRs had been issued against Modi by the same court to authorities in Mauritius, Singapore, and the UAE. The court had, on August 6 last year, issued an NBW (non-bailable arrest warrant) against the high-profile former IPL boss who was believed to be in the UK.

  • IPL ex-chief Lalit Modi to be extradited from UK

    IPL ex-chief Lalit Modi to be extradited from UK

    MUMBAI: A special court in Mumbai yesterday allowed the Indian law-enforcement authorities to extradite from the United Kindom Lalit Modi, the creator of highly-successful Indian IPL franchise which was recently in news for potentially fetching BCCI Rs 4500 crore in telecast rights.

    The PMLA court permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to send a Letter of Request (LR) to government in the UK for execution of a non-bailable warrant against the former IPL commissioner, and his transfer to India for facing probe in a money-laundering case.

    The ED is investigating a case against Modi in connection with a 2008 deal between World Sports Group (WSG) and Multi Screen Media (MSM) for IPL television rights to the tune of Rs 425 crore. The BCCI had registered a case in Chennai in this connection, followed by a case by the ED under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The directorate is probing Modi for misappropriation of funds from IPL during his tenure.

    The agency had on 8 November sought necessary steps to be taken by the competent authorities in the UK for locating him. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court permitted the prayer. “The LR order will now be sent to the External Affairs Ministry, which will forward it to the competent authority in England for further action,” said special ED counsel Hiten Venegoankar.

    So far, three LRs had been issued against Modi by the same court to authorities in Mauritius, Singapore, and the UAE. The court had, on August 6 last year, issued an NBW (non-bailable arrest warrant) against the high-profile former IPL boss who was believed to be in the UK.

  • TV Today files Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Radio City

    TV Today files Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Radio City

    MUMBAI: TV Today Network has filed a defamation suit to the tune of Rs 100 crore against FM station Radio City in the Mumbai High Court.

    The suit has been filed for airing defamatory remarks against TV Today Network and its consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai. The court has granted TV Today an interim relief. Radio City has now given an undertaking to not rebroadcast the defamatory content.
     

    According to the broadcaster, the case was filed after Radio City made defamatory comments on one of its shows aired on 17 June. The comment made was in connection with an interview of ex-IPL chief Lalit Modi conducted by Sardesai.

    In an official statement TV Today Network said, “The radio station has made comments, which tarnished and defamed the plaintiff. The case was listed and heard in the court of Hon’ble Justice Gautam Patel. Besides granting injunction against re-broadcast, Radio City has also given an undertaking that it will not disseminate the offensive content, which is subject matter of the suit on any other media including all forms of printed, digital, and audio or audit visual dissemination including without limitation any such dissemination by SMS, Whatsapp or any other communication mode using a smart phone, cellular device, handheld devise or computer in addition to print and tangible media.”

  • Rakhi Sawant takes on Arnab Goswami, Lalit Modi while getting bajaoed on #fame

    Rakhi Sawant takes on Arnab Goswami, Lalit Modi while getting bajaoed on #fame

    MUMBAI:  The outspoken and blunt Rakhi Sawant is back with her bold statements on #famebollywood. The queen of controversies takes on the tweets about her on social media and stylishly replies to a few chosen ones.

     

    She is funny, vulnerable and absolutely endearing as she gets #Bajaoed!  The actress outdoes herself each time she opens her mouth. This time her target is the Bollywood’s sultry siren, Sunny Leone. She also takes on Arnab Goswami when she is told ‘Rakhi is the replacement of Arnab Goswami in the entertainment world.’ Rakhi’s hilarious response when she is asked about her ‘genetic connection with Lalit Modi’. All this and more will leave the viewers in surprise!

     

    Not known to mince her words, she reacts to the tweets; ‘Rakhi’s comparison with the Delhi Government that does nothing… Rakhi being called the Pamela Anderson of Bollywood and advised to start a show named ‘Bai-watch’ and Rakhi’s born to expose cleavage!

     

    Watch Rakhi Sawant lashing out on the nastiest, funniest and craziest things you’ve read about her on social media. So whether it’s about her plastic face to her infamous kiss with Mika Singh, she is upfront and takes a dig on all of them.

  • “Four smaller channels don’t match up to Times Now:” Arnab Goswami

    “Four smaller channels don’t match up to Times Now:” Arnab Goswami

    MUMBAI: Reporting an event and informing viewers with occurrences from that event is no longer enough for a news channel in India. Week 23 of calendar year 2015 showed the television industry some never before incidences.

    When the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India announced its ratings for week 22, it showed how India Today Television pipped Times Now to take the pole position in the English News genre. And that’s something Times Now did not like!

     

    The zest to go back to number one saw Times Now and ET Now news president and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami getting into action mode on the first day of the week, which incidentally is Sunday – a day when he is generally off action. The Sushma Swaraj – Lalit Modi controversy turned out to be just the right fodder and Goswami exploited the opportunity by covering the news as extensively as possible. The action that began in the Times Now studio certainly irked the then number one India Today Television’s Rahul Kanwal and he even took to Twitter to express his disdain by tweeting the following:

    Not only that, another tweet from Kanwal read as below:

    While Goswami in his coverage mentioned time and again that he broke the Keith Vaz – Lalit Modi story, Kanwal tweeted his reservations thus:

    The week got over, Times Now regained pole position after securing 345 (000s sum), whereas India Today Television managed 151 (000s sum) followed by NDTV 129 (000s sum). 

     

    Commenting on the ratings and indirectly responding to Kanwal and other channels Goswami said, “My experience has been that leadership is built by doing the news, not by negative marketing campaigns. Each time someone mocks or apes us, our viewership grows. There is a big lesson in this fact. Besides, the massive public response to our LalitGate expose matches the growing number of our viewers. Four smaller channels don’t match up to Times Now. I think it is time for the smaller channels to realise that aping the leader, or spending a lot of money mocking the leader is futile.” 

      

    Now it remains to be seen if this jingoism continues and how it affects viewers and if ever any other channel succeeds to grab the pole position. Overall, not only is the news industry providing news, it is also making headlines.

  • Essel Group to enter global sports biz; focus on cricket

    Essel Group to enter global sports biz; focus on cricket

    MUMBAI: Essel Group has rubbished media reports stating that the Subhash Chandra owned company was registering entity with names that appear to be rival national cricket boards.

     

    It may be recalled that way back in 2007, Essel Group had launched the Indian Cricket League, which did not meet with success.

     

    In an official statement, Essel Group pooh-poohed reports, which said that Ten Sports Network was registering certain entities pertaining to cricket as a sport.

     

    “We would like to clarify that the same is not true, since Ten Sports Network has no connection to this initiative, it being a sports network owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., a publicly listed company on Indian stock exchanges. Ten Sports Network holds the broadcast rights for five major cricketing boards namely South Africa (CSA), Zimbabwe (ZC), West Indies (WICB), Sri Lanka (SLC) and Pakistan (PCB) and many other premier sporting events like UEFA Champions League, US Open and WWE. It is a dominant player in the cricket broadcasting and production arena,” the company said.

     

    That said, Essel Group, however has been analysing the sports market and is looking at entering the sports business at a global level, with a focus on cricket.

     

    “The reports reflect an extremely positive trend, indicating our nation as a sports-loving nation, than just a cricket-loving nation. Our nation has produced several sports heroes in the realm of badminton, tennis, wrestling, golf, air rifle, etc. that have earned significant reputation not only for themselves but also for India. In order to enhance the overall sports business, we look forward to the entry of other Indian business houses as well. Essel Group is now geared up to enter the sports business at a global level, focusing on cricket, since it has been limited to Commonwealth countries. Our research reflects that there is an immense opportunity to make it a global sport,” the company said.

     

    The official statement also clarified that Lalit Modi had no linkage whatsoever with Essel Group in this initiative. “Essel Group is independently taking up this initiative on its own accord,” it added.

     

    The statement further read, “Essel Group takes immense pride in being the pioneer to grow and develop the domestic cricket market in India, with the launch of Indian Cricket League way back in 2007. Indian Premier League followed the footsteps of Indian Cricket League. Essel Group also owns the Mumbai Football Club for the last seven years.” 

  • Lalit Modi ousted from Rajasthan Cricket Association

    Lalit Modi ousted from Rajasthan Cricket Association

    MUMBAI: Former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi was ousted from the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) as the members of the association passed a no-confidence motion against Modi and his office-bearers at the Extraordinary General Meeting today (9 March).

     

    With 17 out of 18 members casting their votes against Modi, Amin Pathan is expected to take charge as the new chief of RCA.

     

    However, Modi loyalists alleged that their members were not allowed to participate in the general meeting and that their bus was even pelted by stones. RCA deputy president Mehmood Abdi, who is also a Modi loyalist, cried foul claiming that it was an intentional sabotage.

     

    As per media reports, out of a total 33 district associations, only 18 could attend the meeting and since the majority was present, RCA members decided to go ahead with the meeting.

  • Enforcement Directorate issues show cause to BCCI, IPL, MSM, WSG

    Enforcement Directorate issues show cause to BCCI, IPL, MSM, WSG

    MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a show cause notice against Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Indian Premier League (IPL), their officials and private multimedia firms for alleged contravention of forex laws in awarding a cricketing media rights contract in 2009. The ED has slapped a charge of Rs 425 crore for the same on the entities.

     

    The notices have been issued to close to ten individuals and entities, which include former BCCI boss N Srinivasan, the then IPL chairman Lalit Modi, chief operating officer (COO) Sunder Raman, and the officials of World Sports Group (WSG) and Multi Screen Media (MSM) for allegedly and fraudulently “manipulating” the contract and hence making illegal payments.

     

    The notices were served when the entire country was celebrating India’s win over Pakistan in the World Cup and witnessing the Pepsi IPL 2015 auction.

     

    It was in 2008 when the BCCI awarded the 10-year media rights to WSG on payment of $918 million. In the same year, WSG also entered into a deal with MSM to make Sony the official broadcaster. The contract was replaced a year later with a nine-year deal where MSM paid $1.63 billion.

     

    The ED stepped in on this case in 2009 and began a probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to investigate allegations that payment of Rs 425 crore facilitation fee by MSM Singapore to WSG Mauritius was made in an alleged unauthorised manner.

     

    As per media reports, the agency has now issued a show-cause notice to those officials in these organisations, who were at the helm and signatories to the contract deal as it probed and detected that FEMA and RBI laws were “contravened” in the final execution of this deal.

     

    The agency has issued the final notices after which all parties are allowed to appeal against the order within a period of 45 days or else pay the charged amount as mentioned in the notice.

  • SC names Srinivasan, Meiyyappan, Kundra and Sundra Raman in Mudgal report

    SC names Srinivasan, Meiyyappan, Kundra and Sundra Raman in Mudgal report

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court of India disclosed the names of ICC chairman N Srinivasan, his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra and former Indian Premier League CEO Sundar Raman among the 13 who were investigated by the court-appointed Mudgal committee to look into the corruption in the Indian Premier League (IPL) scam.

     

    The Apex court has also asked that findings of the Mudgal committee report on non-cricketers be disclosed and that a copy of the report be provided to BCCI, Srinivasan and other non-players. Meanwhile BCCI, Srinivasan and other non-players who are named in the report have been asked to file their objections within four days of the receipt. The next hearing will be on 24 November.

     

    Some media reports quoted the court saying, “Certain findings recorded by committee are understood to have indicted some individuals whose conduct has been investigated. We have seen the report and it did suggest some misdemeanour on part of certain individuals.”

     

    Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for the Mudgal committee, had submitted that the report does not name any player and they are referred as numbers whose key is kept in a separate report.

     

    It is not clear whether Srinivasan who is seeking to contest the BCCI elections once again will be able to contest the same. The Board AGM, which was scheduled on 20 November has once again been deferred by four weeks and it is the first time in the boards history that it has been put off twice said a report.