Supreme Court lawyer files PIL, demands probe
Supreme Court lawyer files PIL, demands probe
Adding another dimension to the IPL row, which already has big guns Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi as
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| IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: Advocate Ashok Agarwalu00a0has demanded a probe against Shashi Tharoor |
protagonists, Supreme Court advocate Ajay Agarwal filed a PIL yesterday, asking for an independent probe into the deals of the league. He has requested the apex court to ensure that the probe be conducted by the CBI and other premier agencies like the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the Enforcement Directorate.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Agarwal alleged that IPL has become a huge investment ground for underworld and hawala operators. He argued that Tharoor used his influence to ensure that close friend Sunanda Pushkar acquired a 5 per cent stake (around Rs 70 crore) in the Kochi IPL franchise.
Tharoor's money"Whatever share Sunanda has in the IPL team is actually Tharoor's money. As far as Tharoor's conduct is concerned, it is completely unbecoming of a Member of Parliament to use his influence to gain a Rs 70 crore stake in an IPL franchise," he said.u00a0
u00a0"Transactions worth millions of rupees have taken place and there is no check on the companies which bid for the teams. There is no account of the source of money. In case of the Kochi IPL team, there are multiple partners and some of them have not even disclosed their identity," he said. He also mentioned Dawood Ibrahim as one of the possible beneficiaries of the hawala transactions in the IPL bidding process.
Questioning Sunanda Pushkar's statement that she has got the equity in the franchise in lieu of her salary, Agarwal pointed towards Tharoor's clout which the minister has described as his role of a 'mentor' to the team.
| It's a tie! |
| Lalit Modi openly accused Shashi Tharoor of trying to bribe him for hiding Sunanda Pushkar's name as one of the franchisee owners yesterday. Tharoor, on the other hand, blamed Modi for conspiring against him to stop the franchisee from owning the Kochi team |
When MiD DAY asked him how Tharoor figured in his allegations regarding hawala money, Agarwal said, "It is premature to speculate whether Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar have hawala connections. But, there are allegations of underworld money and hawala playing a big role in the IPL. In such a situation,u00a0 everything needs to be cross-verified," he said.
The lawyer did not spare IPL commissioner Lalit Modi either. "Modi is also guilty. Why did he not raise the issue when the controversy broke out?" he demanded.
