Taxmen raid IPL office in Mumbai

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is at the centre of a raging row involving India's Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, and now even Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, described the raids as 'a visit' by tax officials.

Modi admitted that tax officials visited the IPL office, which is located within the offices of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the Wankhede stadium, conducting a survey of its tax records. The raids were expected as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had indicated such an action to probe the unsavoury auction of the Kochi franchise.

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The Kochi franchise was sold in March to a consortium led by Rendezvous World Sport for Rs15.3 billion ($344.63 million). The sale became controversial when Modi twittered claiming that the deal was not above board. He also revealed the names of some of the parties behind the consortium that won the Kochi franchise.

His opponents accuse him of selectively leaking the information and of hiding his links to other owners of IPL teams.

Modi accused Tharoor of having links with the winning bidder and raised questions about the role of his friend, Sunanda Pushkar, a Dubai-based businesswoman, who was allegedly gifted equity by the company.

Tharoor was summoned by the Congress high command on Thursday and asked to clarify his stand. The junior minister has also levelled allegations against Modi.

IANS adds from New Delhi: A top official of the CBDT said: “Our department officials indeed visited the Mumbai office of IPL for a routine inquiry.”

As regards the Kochi franchisee, the probe was to ensure that the money involved was from clean sources.

“Our main concern is black money parked abroad,” said a senior official in the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence. “At the end of the day, the exchequer should not suffer,” said the official of the directorate, a wing under the finance ministry's department of
revenue. - nithin@khaleejtimes.com