IPL council to decide Modi's fate - Pawar

The IPL governing council will meet on April 26 and take a unanimous decision on the way ahead from the current controversy, Sharad Pawar, the ICC's president-elect, has said. He was referring to the raft of allegations against Lalit Modi, the IPL's commissioner and, though he did not specify the action to be taken, it has become clear after a day of backroom meetings and public posturing that Modi's role in the IPL, if he retains it, will be severely diminished.

Pawar's statement came after a meeting with the BCCI president, Shashank Manohar, in Delhi. Speaking to a scrum of journalists outside his house, Pawar said neither he nor Manohar had the authority to take a unilateral decision on Modi's fate and that it was best left to the governing council. "Our (BCCI) total approach in the Governing Council will be to take collective, unanimous decisions, and give future direction to Indian cricket," he said.

Asked whether Modi would accept the governing council's decision, Pawar said, "Don't forget Mr Modi is also a vice president of the BCCI and our total approach and past experience [is], we always take collective and unanimous decision that everyone is party to, including I hope Lalit Modi."

His statement followed talks with two of the senior-most members of the federal government, which has directed a wide-ranging and coordinated series of investigations of the BCCI, IPL and the franchises that comprise the league. Later in the day, Manohar met his senior colleagues in the BCCI and IPL, including Arun Jaitley, president of the Delhi cricket association and leader of the opposition in the upper house of Parliament.

It is in these meetings that Modi's fate would have been sealed as the men who run Indian cricket weighed the potential cost of the allegations, though yet unproven, against Modi. Given the scale of the allegations, and the fact that the investigations by federal agencies cover the BCCI as well, they would have also seen the need for urgent damage limitation.

For his part Modi displayed his typical swagger upon surfacing in Mumbai after two days in Dubai. "There is no question of me resigning," he told reporters, "no need for me to step down." He also echoed Pawar, whom he is due to meet over the next 24 hours, saying the governing council would take a unanimous decision. "I will present all the facts against all the allegations. There is nothing to worry about and we will carry on."

Removing Modi is not a simple matter for the IPL's governing council or the BCCI, though both have the powers to do so. Modi was appointed to his post by Pawar, when the latter was BCCI president, and any move to remove him would have to go through Pawar, who retains considerable influence in Indian cricket and who has publicly backed Modi. Pawar is also a senior member of the national government and his Nationalist Congress Party has nine MPs that are crucial to the survival of the ruling coalition.

In Parliament, meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor, who resigned as a junior government minister on Sunday over allegations of a conflict of interest by his mentoring of the Kochi franchise, made a statement reiterating his innocence. "My conscience is clear ... I am new to Indian politics but I have a long career in public service unblemished by the slightest taint of financial irregularity," Tharoor said.

Modi's stunning success with the IPL is reflected also in his popularity with the franchise owners, and two of them came out in his defence on Monday. Vijay Mallya, owner of the Royal Bangalore Challengers, said the IPL owed its success to its commissioner.

"Unfortunately, this entire issue has snowballed into an unnecessary storm," he told NDTV. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm full of appreciation for what Lalit Modi has delivered through the IPL. If he has issues with the Government of India, that's his private matter and he needs to deal with it."

Subroto Roy, whose Sahara group won the Pune franchise in last month's auction, echoed Mallya. "Lalit Modi has done a commendable job in conceptualizing and bringing IPL to present stature," Roy said, adding, that the law should take its own course.