N Srinivasan, former BCCI and ICC president, appeared before the enforcement directorate (ED) yesterday, in connection with an alleged case of FEMA violations during IPL 2 in 2009. Srinivasan was cross-examined by the lawyers of former IPL chief Lalit Modi at the ED office.
As per the allegations, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had hosted the tournament in South Africa by entering into an agreement with Cricket South Africa (CSA), and transferred funds of around R400 crore to CSA without seeking approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
What he said
According to Modi's lawyer, Mehmood Abdi, during the cross-examination, Srinivasan said that all decisions were taken by the then BCCI president Shashank Manohar and BCCI treasurer MP Pandove. Abdi added that Srinivasan's response to most of the questions was that he could not recall the details, as it had all taken place 10 years ago.
At the time, Srinivasan was BCCI secretary. As per Abdi, he tried to paint the picture that the secretary was no more powerful than a rubber stamp. Abdi further stated that none of the BCCI officials questioned so far could prove that Modi had any say in the financial and other decisions.
Srinivasan refused to answer any questions after he came out of the ED office in south Mumbai. ED officials were also unwilling to comment on the cross-examination.
BCCI officials have denied there was any wrongdoing. In February this year, the Bombay High Court accepted Lalit Modi's plea to cross-examine the top officials of the BCCI before the ED. So far, apart from Srinivasan and Pandove, IPL COO Sundar Raman, former IPL chairman Chirayu Amin, chief financial officer of IPL Prasanna Kannan, former BCCI president Shashank Manohar and former BCCI official Ratnakar Shetty have been cross-examined.
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