Mumbai: PMLA court reserves order on plea to extradite Lalit Modi

The designated court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday reserved its order for Wednesday on the plea of enforcement directorate (ED) seeking extradition of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi in cases of money laundering

The designated court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday reserved its order for Wednesday on the plea of enforcement directorate (ED) seeking extradition of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi in cases of money laundering.

ED stated Modi had cheated the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by allotting free commercial time of 150 seconds to a company named Pioneer Digadys (File Photo)

The central agency had on November 8 moved the designated court. The agency sought a letter of request be issued, under the mutual legal assistance treaty, to a competent court in the United Kingdom to bring back Modi to India, and to question him in connection with the cases.

On Tuesday, the counsel for ED, Hiten Venegaokar, argued before the court on legal provisions under the PMLA act for procedure of extradition. Venegaonkar also submitted the agency had tried all way possible to execute the warrants issued by the court but he has not replied. “We need his presence to question him and seek clarification on several aspects in the probe. For this, we have to initiate the process,” Venegaokar said. The court, after hearing the submissions, adjourned the case for order to Wednesday

In the application filed last week, the ED stated Modi had cheated the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by allotting free commercial time of 150 seconds to a company named Pioneer Digadys, owned by Kunal Das Gupta. The ED stated Modi had cheated BCCI in the execution of Securities Facilities Agreement with a company named Visual Impact that was handpicked by Modi to supply vans mounted with X-Ray scanners stationed at IPL playgrounds.

The case which is under investigation pertains to the deal for media rights during the IPL seasons, where Modi is alleged to have laundered around Rs425 crore. The agency alleged when Modi entered into separate agreements with two companies Multi Screen Media (Singapore) Ltd and World Sports Group (WSG) for broadcasting media rights.

However, there were discrepancies in connection with awarding broadcast media rights for Indian Premier League and Modi is alleged to have received monetary gains from this deal. ED alleged the documents related to the alleged violation are with these companies in Singapore and Mauritius.