The Lalit Modi camp reacted predictably to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s rejection of his explanations, finding fault with the process by which the decision was reached and the people involved in taking it.
<b1>On Wednesday, HT had
reported that the BCCI secretary had found Modi’s explanations insufficient to drop the charges against him and recommended the disciplinary committee of the Board take further action.
In a statement issued on Modi’s behalf, Mehmood Abdi, his legal counsel, wished “the khap panchayat of BCCI best of luck” while singling out secretary N Srinivasan for harsh criticism.
“The subjective dissatisfaction of the secretary, BCCI with regard to the replies of Mr Modi surpasses every yardstick of fair play and blatantly violates the principles of natural justice,” said Abdi’s statement.
“While Mr Shashank Manohar had the grace to recuse himself, Mr Srinivasan has not,” Abdi added. He said that by referring Modi’s case to the disciplinary committee , Srinivasan had “exhibited extreme impropriety and violated natural justice.” He maintained that the decision was “bad in law and amenable to judicial review”.
Abdi contended that Srinivasan’s decision “vindicates Modi’s apprehensions”.