Supreme Court junks Lalit Modi's ‘frivolous' plea seeking BCCI to pay ED penalty
The Supreme Court on Monday junked a plea filed by former cricket administrator Lalit Modi seeking an order to the BCCI to pay a penalty of ₹ 10.65 crore imposed on him by the ED for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Lalit Modi was imposed a penalty of ₹ 10.65 crore by the Enforcement Directorate.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan, however, said Modi will be entitled to avail civil remedies as available according to law.
The Bombay High Court on December 19 last year had imposed a cost of ₹ 1 lakh on Modi while dismissing his petition seeking an order to the BCCI to pay a penalty of ₹ 10.65 crore imposed on him by the Enforcement Directorate for violating FEMA.
The high court had said the petition was "frivolous and wholly misconceived" as the adjudication authority under FEMA has imposed the penalty on Modi.
Modi, in his plea, said he was appointed as vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, during which period he was also the chairman of the Indian Premier League governing body, a subcommittee of the BCCI.
The plea claimed that the BCCI is supposed to indemnify him as per the bylaws.
The HC bench, however, referred to a Supreme Court judgment of 2005, which said the BCCI does not fall under the definition of a 'state' as defined under Article 12 of the Constitution.
Despite clear orders from the apex court, Modi filed this petition in 2018, the HC bench noted.
"In matters of alleged indemnification of the petitioner (Modi) in the context of penalties imposed upon the petitioner by the ED, there is no question of discharge of any public function, and therefore, for this purpose, no writ could be issued to the BCCI," the HC had said.
"In any event, the reliefs are wholly misconceived. This petition is frivolous, and accordingly, we dismiss this petition," the court had said and directed Modi to pay a sum of ₹ 1 lakh to the Tata Memorial Hospital within four weeks.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
33 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
SC turns down plea for exclusive control of Mahabodhi temple to Buddhists
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea that sought handing over exclusive control of the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya to Buddhists, and asked the petitioner to approach the high court. The Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. (File Photo) The plea, filed by lawyer and former Maharashtra minister Sulekha Narayan Kumbhare, challenged the constitutional validity of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, which entrusted a nine-member committee with the temple's management, of which a majority are Hindus. Refusing to entertain the petition, a bench of justices MM Sundresh and K Vinod Chandran, said, 'How can we issue mandamus? You please approach the high court. This is not maintainable under Article 32.' The petition claimed that the management of the Mahabodhi temple should be with the Buddhists and the Act was unconstitutional for violating the right of Buddhists to profess their religion and manage their religious institutions. 'Inclusion of members in the committee who are non-Buddhists i.e. Hindus is violative of protections guaranteed to the Buddhist citizens of India and the Lord Buddha himself guaranteed under Articles 19 (right to fundamental freedoms), 21 (life and liberty), 25 (freedom of religion), 26 (right to administer institutions), 28 and 29 (minority rights) of the Constitution of India,' the petition stated. Senior advocate Ravindra Laxman Khapre pointed out that due to mismanagement and indifference to the temple, the sacred Bodhi tree at the site is in danger of decay, as found out by a committee of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The bench dismissed the petition allowing the petitioner to raise these issues before the high court. 'We are not inclined to entertain the petition. Liberty is granted to approach the high court.' While the definition of Hindus includes Buddhists as well, the religious community was recognised as a minority in 1993 under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. The petition, filed by advocate Jaydip Pati stated that the Mahabodhi temple is the holiest Buddhist shrine in India and is also a World Heritage site since the year 2002, which is not under the exclusive management of Buddhists. It said, 'Though Buddhists are defined as being part of Hindus, their independent right to profess their religion is also recognized. The said recognition therefore confers rights of Buddhists to profess their religion as per their own choice.' The petitioner argued that the surroundings and vicinity of the area, including the area of the temple, which is now under the possession of the Bodh Gaya Temple Committee used to be under control of Lord Buddha. 'In effect, the idol of Lord Buddha is the owner of the land. It is therefore submitted that the ownership of the site is vested in Lord Buddha as a juristic person.'
Time of India
34 minutes ago
- Time of India
PM Modi To Visit 5 Nations Including Brazil, Trinidad; India To Chair BRICS in 2026
PM Narendra Modi will visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia in early July 2025. He will attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro from July 6–7. India will assume the BRICS chair next year. Modi's trip to Trinidad marks the first bilateral visit by an Indian PM since 1999 and coincides with 180 years of Indian diaspora presence in the Caribbean nation. Watch#pmmodi #bricssummit #indiaglobal #trinidadvisit #modiabroad #indiandiaspora Read More
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
‘Agents of Russia': BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleges 150 Congress MPs took Soviet money under HKL Bhagat's leadership
Targeting the Congress party, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday cited a 2011 document released by the US intelligence agency CIA, alleging that over 150 Congress MPs were 'funded' by the Soviet Union under the leadership of the late HKL Bhagat. 'Congress, Corruption, and Slavery. This unclassified secret document was released by the CIA in 2011. According to it, under the leadership of the late Congress leader HKL Bhagat, more than 150 Congress MPs were funded by Soviet Russia, acting as agents for Russia?' Dubey said in a post on the social media platform X. He added that a group of journalists were 'their agents'. Dubey further claimed that the document he shared contains a list of 16,000 news articles that Russia published. During the Congress regime, Dubey alleged that 1,100 people from the Russian intelligence agency KGB were in India, and they kept bureaucrats, business organisations, communist parties, and opinion makers in their 'pockets'. 'A group of journalists were their agents, and there is mention of a total of 16,000 news articles that Russia got published? Around that time, 1100 people from Russian intelligence agencies were in India, keeping bureaucrats, business organisations, communist parties, and opinion makers in their pockets, shaping India's policies along with information,' said the BJP MP. 'Congress candidate Subhadra Joshi took 5 lakh rupees from the German government in the name of elections during that time, and after losing, became the president of the Indo-German Forum. Is this a country or a puppet of slaves, agents, and middlemen? Congress must answer, should there be an investigation on this today or not?' Last week, Dubey slammed the Congress and accused Indira Gandhi of 'murdering' the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar by implementing the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution. The 42nd Amendment, which was enacted during the emergency period, was passed during Indira Gandhi's tenure as prime minister and has been controversial. 'The word secular is already written in the first paragraph of the Constitution; the murder of the Constitution written for Scheduled Castes and Tribes is in the blood of Congress,' Dubey had said in a X post.
