Now, Lalit Modi fears for his life

Former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi fears a threat to his life and will “prefer to stay out of India until there is some alteration in the prevailing situation”, his attorney Mehmud Abdi claimed on Thursday. HT reports.

Former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi fears a threat to his life and will “prefer to stay out of India until there is some alteration in the prevailing situation”, his attorney Mehmud Abdi claimed on Thursday.

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Abdi, who spoke to reporters outside Bombay High Court, refused to elaborate on the threat perception saying, “We do not question the politicians moving around with Z-plus security as to what is the exact threat to their lives”.

The lawyers, however, denied that Modi was trying to evade legal proceedings initiated against him.

“His whereabouts are known to authorities, and he is replying to all the notices, be it the Enforcement Directorate or the Mumbai regional passport office,” Abdi said.

The Mumbai regional passport office has issued a show cause notice to Modi on October 15, asking him to explain why his passport should not be revoked. Abdi said the notice was received by Modi's office on October 19, and Modi was made aware about it only on October 20.

Abdi expressed inability on part of his client to reply to the notice issued by the passport office, unless they respond to his plea, and make available the basis for issuance of the notice. “They haven't even replied to our query about the expiry date for replying to the notice,” Abdi said.

The regional passport office has issued the notice reportedly on instructions from the Enforcement Directorate, which looks into foreign exchange violations. The ED had written to the external affairs ministry on October 5 asking it to revoke Modi's passport since he had persistently refused to face the agency regarding allegations of financial irregularities.