Taxmen in nationwide IPL sweep

Even as the key figures in the IPL mess continue their battles, federal income-tax and revenue officials have extended their operations into the most coordinated and high-profile exercise of recent times in India. The full might of the government machinery has been deployed from Chandigarh in the north to Chennai in the south, investigating franchises, rights holders and other entities and individuals - including top Bollywood stars - associated with the IPL.

The scale of the operation is staggering. The exercise is being coordinated by a director-general of vigilance in Mumbai heading a 24-hour investigating cell; those involved are officials of the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department - coming under the finance ministry - and officials of the Corporate Affairs ministry.

The investigations - covering a range of alleged infringements including money laundering, tax evasion, shell companies, black (illegal) money and misusing tax havens - appear to be an implementation of the finance minister's assurance to Parliament that the allegations would be thoroughly probed.

The day began with the taxmen raiding the offices of Multi Screen Media (MSM, formerly Sony Entertainment Television) and World Sports Group (WSG), the two firms that hold the TV broadcast rights to the IPL. The "surveys", as tax officials call them, were conducted in four different locations, including the home of the WSG's South Asia president, Venu Nair. In 2008, WSG bagged the TV rights for a ten-year period, with a $918 million bid and a promise to spend $108m on promoting the event. It had simultaneously signed a deal with MSM that Sony would be the official broadcaster. The contract was recast before IPL 2009, with MSM agreeing to pay $1.63 billion for nine years.

That contract - and specifically an alleged $80 million facilitation fee - is now believed to be the subject of investigation but WSG has denied allegations of impropriety. "Any allegation that World Sports Group has used any funds received in connection with its sub-licence of these rights for inappropriate or unlawful activities is completely unfounded and without substance," it said in a statement.

The rest of the day followed a familiar pattern. In Chandigarh, home to the Kings XI Punjab, a court summoned Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia and Mohit Burman, co-owners of the franchise, on July 23 in a case of missing balance sheets and accounts details.

In Kolkata, income tax officials visited the offices of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, located within the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal at Eden Gardens and the offices of Gameplan, a sports management company associated with the franchise.

In Secunderabad, an IT team visited the office premises of Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures limited.

There was even a check in Chennai, where 40-odd officials turned up at the office of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings. India Cements is run by N Srinivasan, who is also the BCCI secretary.

And in Mumbai, IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi was questioned again at the Four Seasons Hotel where he's staying about a multi-million dollar contract for the broadcasting rights of IPL.

In New Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate registered a preliminary case against the IPL and its franchises to probe possible violations of foreign exchange rules and regulations. The case was registered under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act to investigate claims that huge funds have found their way into IPL from international tax havens.