In a blow to the former Indian Premier League commissioner, Lalit Modi, a special court here on Wednesday issued a non-bailable warrant against him in a case of alleged money-laundering.
Mr. Modi has been living in London where he fled in 2010 shortly after the first IPL scam of proxy ownership of franchises surfaced, and he was suspended from IPL for financial misconduct.
Special Judge P.R. Bhavake issued the warrant on the grounds that Mr. Modi had not responded to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) summons on three occasions.
His past conduct of disregarding summons in other cases of financial irregularities also went against him, ED lawyer Hiten Venegaonkar told The Hindu .
Modi cites Home Ministry circular
“The warrant [against former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi] will be given to the Home Ministry from where it will be forwarded to the Home Office in the U.K., and then we will arrest him,” an ED official told The Hindu .
Mr. Lalit Modi could challenge in a higher court the non-bailable warrant issued by the special court here, in a case of alleged money laundering.
On Wednesday, he tweeted a portion of the Home Ministry’s circular which said warrants were issued only in criminal matters, and the Ministry did not undertake service of non-bailable warrants, which amounted to extradition.
On July 27, the ED moved the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court seeking a warrant against Mr. Modi after he did not respond to their summons of July 3.
The central agency, had asked Mr. Modi to appear in person within 15 days in connection with a PMLA case filed by the BCCI in 2010, accusing him of misappropriating funds during his tenure as IPL chief.
The case was filed by former BCCI chief N. Srinivasan, who testified earlier this month with the ED in Mumbai.
