Supreme Court Junks Lalit Modi's Plea Seeking BCCI To Pay ED Penalty

The Supreme Court on Monday junked a plea filed by former cricket administrator Lalit Modi seeking an order to the BCCI to pay a penalty of Rs 10.65 crore imposed on him by the ED for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan, however, said Modi will be entitled to avail civil remedies as available according to law.

The Bombay High Court on Dec. 19 last year had imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on Modi while dismissing his petition seeking an order to the BCCI to pay a penalty of Rs 10.65 crore imposed on him by the Enforcement Directorate for violating FEMA.

The high court had said the petition was 'frivolous and wholly misconceived' as the adjudication authority under FEMA has imposed the penalty on Modi.

Modi, in his plea, said he was appointed as vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, during which period he was also the chairman of the Indian Premier League governing body, a subcommittee of the BCCI.

The plea claimed that the BCCI is supposed to indemnify him as per the bylaws.

The HC bench, however, referred to a Supreme Court judgment of 2005, which said the BCCI does not fall under the definition of a 'state' as defined under Article 12 of the Constitution.

Despite clear orders from the apex court, Modi filed this petition in 2018, the HC bench noted.

"In matters of alleged indemnification of the petitioner (Modi) in the context of penalties imposed upon the petitioner by the ED, there is no question of discharge of any public function, and therefore, for this purpose, no writ could be issued to the BCCI," the HC had said.

"In any event, the reliefs are wholly misconceived. This petition is frivolous, and accordingly, we dismiss this petition," the court had said and directed Modi to pay a sum of Rs 1 lakh to the Tata Memorial Hospital within four weeks.