Suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, in his reply to the third show cause notice slapped by the BCCI, has maintained that there had been no violation of the clauses of Invitation to Tender in awarding of theatrical rights in IPL III.
"There's neither any violation of ITT terms issued by the BCCI on the theatrical rights nor any operational precedent of BCCI or IPL was violated (in the awarding of the rights)," stated Modi's legal counsel Mehmood Abdi on Wednesday.
Abdi said Entertainment Sports Direct won the theatrical rights for USD 41.40 million outbidding Triplecom Media, who had quoted USD 23 million whereas the base price was fixed at USD 20 million.
Modi's counsel blamed BCCI secretary N Srinivasan for the considerable delay in signing of the deal though the IPL Governing Council had approved it on November 12, 2009.
'The agreement was signed only on 22nd January, 2010 while the IPL was to commence on March 12. As ESD was based out of India it required regulatory clearances which could not come about in time as IPL was to start shortly.
"The inordinate delay in the signing of the agreement was caused by the conduct of the honorary secretary of BCCI (N Srinivasan)," said Abdi.
Modi's 50-page reply (with attachments) to the third show cause was e-mailed to the BCCI yesterday by the suspended T20 League's chief and the hard copy was handed over to BCCI's CAO Ratnakar Shetty today by Abdi. PTI
