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No involvement in any IPL bid - Pawar

Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule have both denied they were involved in a failed bid for an IPL franchise in March

Cricinfo staff
04-Jun-2010
Sharad Pawar (left): "Had I used any influence, do you think it [City Corp] would have lost the bid?"  •  AFP

Sharad Pawar (left): "Had I used any influence, do you think it [City Corp] would have lost the bid?"  •  AFP

Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule have both denied they were involved in a failed bid for an IPL franchise in March. According to the Times of India, the Pawar family allegedly owns roughly 16% in City Corporation, a Pune-based construction company that bid Rs 1,176 crores (US$261.1m) for a franchise in March. City Corp ultimately lost out to Sahara's Rs 1,703 crore-bid (US$370m) for the Pune franchise.
The paper claims Pawar, his wife and Sule together own 3.36 million shares of out of a total of 20.7 million shares. The shares are split between two companies - Lap Finance and Consultancy Pvt Ltd and Namratta Film Enterprises Pvt Ltd - both of which are wholly owned by the former BCCI president, his wife Pratibha and Sule.
While acknowledging the bid, Sule said it was made by City Corporation's managing director, Aniruddha Deshpande, in his personal capacity, and that the company board had passed a resolution stating it would have nothing to do with the bid. "Nobody supported it," she said. "The board meeting was on March 17, and the resolution was probably passed on March 19."
Pawar subsequently told PTI the same thing. He also said he did not disclose his family's stake six weeks ago, when the issue of conflicts of interest was first raised, because "there was no necessity felt for doing so." In addition, the Union agriculture minister disparaged the notion that he had influenced the bidding process. "I was somebody in that organisation. Had I used any influence, do you think it [City Corp] would have lost the bid?"
Suspended IPL-chairman Lalit Modi chimed in via Twitter, saying City Corporation was only used to determine whether Deshpande qualified under the personal net worth criteria. According to Modi, it was "clearly stated in their bid documents that they will set up a Newco if they were successful bidders in the IPL auction."
Deshpande confirmed the bid document was submitted in City Corporation's name, saying the company had allowed him to use the name only for the purpose of bidding. But he said the bid would have been financed by a "different consortium, comprising Akruti, (a Mumbai-based construction firm), Maharashtra Cricket Association, etc." He also insisted the Pawar family had nothing to do with the bid, saying "They are not involved. I am the managing director. There is no control," he said.
Back in April, Sule had initially refuted the allegation that her husband had a stake in Multi-Screen Media, which owns the broadcasting rights to the IPL. Subsequently, she admitted that her husband did own 10% in the firm via a Power of Attorney from his father.
She also told PTI that if her father was interested in the IPL, he could have simply bought a franchise in 2008. "Remember Mr Pawar was the BCCI President when IPL started and if he wanted, he could easily have got a team in the first season itself, and that too much cheaper than some are paying now. It was just that we were not interested in it."