More than one legal expert in Mumbai and Delhi reacted with shock at the arbitrary and haphazard way in which the BCCI issued the suspension or sacking notice via email to Lalit Modi, within minutes of the last IPL match or the finals.
According to the legal eagles, the BCCI should have waited till early morning to issue the notice. “It was almost past midnight. A show cause notice issued at mid night reeks of high handedness and arrogance. They could have sent the notice at 8 am, but at 1 am seems a bit too much. If it was so urgent or so serious then the BCCI should have issued the notice on Sunday evening itself.
A senior counsel from Mumbai on condition of anonymity said, “If they (the BCCI) could wait till the finals were over, they could have waited for one more night. It’s sad for cricket in India, when the administrators of the sport play such dirty games. It is not possible that the alleged wrongdoing or misdeeds could have been done or undertaken by Lalit Modi without the knowledge or even subtle approval of some other senior members or governing council members.
Meanwhile news reports suggested that Modi has been given 15 days time to reply to the BCCI suspension notice. As a result of his suspension, Lalit Modi cannot attend the BCCI governing council meeting on Monday morning. According to a report by IANS:
After suspending Lalit Modi as vice president of Board of Control for Cricket in India and Indian Premier League’s chairman and commissioner, board president Shashank Manohar Monday said alleged acts of “individual misdemeanours” of Modi have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket.
Manohar also issued a show cause notice to Modi asking him to explain within 15 days why he should not be suspended.
“The events of the last few days have thrown up lot of sad and unfortunate developments,” Manohar said in a press statement in the early hours Monday.
“While we rejoice and celebrate the great success of IPL season 3, the alleged acts of individual misdemeanours of Mr.Lalit Modi, Chairman IPL and vice president, BCCI, have brought a bad name to the administration of cricket and the game itself.”
Manohar said that he waited for the IPL to conclude before taking any action against Modi because he did not wanted to “disrupt” the tournament.
“Immediately after the conclusion of the IPL final, the BCCI secretary, Mr. N. Srinivasan has in consultation with me issued a show cause notice to Lalit Modi under Rule 32 (iv) calling upon him to show cause within 15 days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.”
“Simultaneously in exercise of the powers vested in me under Rule 32 (vii), I have suspended Mr. Lalit Modi from participating in the affairs of the Board, the IPL, the Working Committee and any other Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India,” Manohar said.
AsiaWire 