IPL founder and former chairman Lalit Modi has said he will return to India after 16 years abroad after major relief from an appellate tribunal in the long-running 2009 Indian Premier League South Africa FEMA case.
Modi, who has lived outside India since 2010, said the tribunal's ruling had ended a legal battle that had continued for 16 years. After the verdict he said he was relieved that the tribunal had ruled in his favour and indicated that he could return to India by the end of this year or early next year.
"I'm really happy with the verdict yesterday. It's really been a great day. Sixteen years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth," Modi said.
He added his main concern had always been the IPL and its interests.
"I was only concerned with the well-being of the IPL and nothing at all. That is the most dear to me. Now that chapter is behind me, I'm going to move on with my life and I'm looking forward to coming back to India," he said.
Lalit Modi plans to return after grandson's birth.
Modi said his return might take place after the birth of his grandson which is expected in the middle of this year.
"I will come back probably end of this year or early next year. My daughter is due with my grandson in October and hopefully everything will be well and I’ll be back in India," he said.
The comments came after the Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act set aside most of the Enforcement Directorate's findings and penalties against Modi and other appellants in the main proceedings related to the 2009 IPL season in South Africa.
The judgment was delivered on July 16.
According to the ruling, there was no material to establish that Modi was responsible for the alleged FEMA violations in the main proceedings. The tribunal also rejected the central basis of the Enforcement Directorate's case concerning the foreign remittances linked to the tournament.
Modi said the tribunal had determined that the principal remittances related to staging the 2009 IPL in South Africa were current account transactions rather than capital account transactions.
Case Dates Back to IPL's South Africa Shift
The case started in 2009 when the IPL was moved to South Africa because its schedule conflicted with India's general elections. The Enforcement Directorate later initiated proceedings over foreign exchange remittances related to the tournament, claiming that prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India was needed.
The latest ruling is a big legal relief to Modi, who was the architect of the IPL and as its first chairman and commissioner. He left India in 2010 as part of several investigations from the Enforcement Directorate, BCCI and the Income Tax Department.
Modi’s return would be a breakthrough in one of Indian cricket’s most closely watched stories. And having been out of the country for over a decade now, the former IPL boss says the latest tribunal verdict has allowed him to close what he termed as a long-drawn out chapter and look ahead to returning home.
