Enforcement Directorate likely to get into IPL field

After the Income tax department, the IPL is now attracting the attention of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED plans to seek IPL documents relating to the bidding and award of contracts collected by the Income Tax department from the office of Lalit Modi and other IPL premises.

After the Income tax department, the IPL is now attracting the attention of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED plans to seek IPL documents relating to the bidding and award of contracts collected by the Income Tax department from the office of Lalit Modi and other IPL premises.

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Official sources said the Directorate is likely to probe the deals involving foreign investors based in tax havens.

The Enforcement Directorate is a wing of the Finance Ministry which monitors foreign exchange violations and money laundering.

If any evidence of such activity emerges from the scrutiny of the documents, then a a full-fledged probe will be initiated, ED sources said.

The Directorate will ask the I-T department to share the files and documents it collected during the IPL searches.

The I-T department's special team in Mumbai has sent a voluminous report on its findings to the Finance Ministry in Delhi.

The ED on its part, will look into the foreign transactions of various franchises including the Rajasthan Royals and the Kochi team which is already under scanner of the I-T department.

On April 15, IPL Chairman Lalit Modi was questioned by Income Tax officials over the financial dealings and share holding patterns of IPL amid allegations and counter-allegations over infirmities in the bidding process.

Sources said Modi may be called for questioning again. Incidentally, the authorities on April 16 had widened their search operations by doing a survey at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) office in nearby Mohali which houses the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.