IPL founder and former chairman Lalit Modi on Wednesday said that he intends to return to India after 16 years, following significant relief from the Appellate Tribunal in the 2009 Indian Premier League South Africa Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case.
Modi, who has been living outside India since 2010, said the tribunal's ruling brings to a close a legal battle spanning 16 years. He also noted that he hopes to return to India by the end of this year or in early 2027.
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"I'm really happy with the verdict yesterday. It's really been a great day. Sixteen years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth. I'm really happy that the tribunal has ruled in my favour."
"I was only concerned with the well-being of the IPL and nothing and nothing at all. That is the most dear to me. Now that chapter is behind me, I'm going to move on in my life and I'm looking forward to coming back to India," Modi said in a video posted on Instagram.
The 62-year-old said he expects to return after the birth of his grandson later this year.
"I will come back probably end of this year or early next year. My daughter is due with my grandson in October and hopefully everything will be well and I'll be back in India."
The Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA) has overturned most of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) findings and penalties against Lalit Modi and other appellants in the main proceedings linked to the 2009 IPL season in South Africa.
In its order dated July 16, the tribunal said there was no evidence to establish that Modi was responsible for the alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in the principal proceedings.
The matter is from 2009, when the Indian Premier League (IPL) was moved from India to South Africa after its schedule coincided with the country's general elections.
The ED had begun investigating the remittances of foreign exchange sent abroad to host the tournament, saying that prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was needed.
Reacting to the ruling, Modi welcomed the tribunal's decision, saying it had effectively dismantled the basis of the ED's case against him.
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"The Tribunal has rejected the central premise on which the Enforcement Directorate's case against me had been built," Modi said.
"It held that the principal foreign remittances relating to the staging of IPL 2009 in South Africa were current account transactions, not capital account transactions, thereby overturning the foundation of the earlier findings", he concluded.
The verdict is a big relief for Modi, who was the architect of the IPL and its first chairman and commissioner.
Multiple probes by the Enforcement Directorate, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Income Tax Department forced him to leave India in 2010.
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