SC junks Lalit Modi's plea seeking BCCI to pay ED penalty
New Delhi (PTI): 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 December 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.
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3 DRG personnel killed, 1 injured as IED goes off during demining operation in Chhattisgarh
Kanker (PTI): Three personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), including an inspector, were killed and another jawan was injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) went off while they were trying to neutralise it in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, police said.
This was the first blast incident linked to Naxalite activity in the state since the country was declared free from armed Maoists on March 31.
The explosion occurred in a forest area under Chhotebethiya police station limits, near the Narayanpur district border, when a DRG team was conducting a demining operation to locate and defuse IEDs planted earlier by Naxalites, a police official said.
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During the operation, the security personnel detected an IED. However, the explosive went off while they were in the process of defusing it, seriously injuring four personnel, he said.
Inspector Sukhram Vatti, constable Krishna Komra and constable Sanjay Gadhpale succumbed to their injuries on the spot, the official said.
Another injured constable, Parmanand Komra, is undergoing treatment and receiving necessary medical care, he said.
Inspector General of Police, Bastar Range, Sundarraj Pattilingam said, based on inputs from surrendered Maoist cadres and other intelligence over the past few months, security forces had recovered and neutralised hundreds of IEDs planted earlier by Naxalites across the Bastar range, comprising seven districts, including Kanker.
"However, in today's unfortunate incident, the IED accidentally exploded while the Kanker district police team was trying to defuse it, resulting in the death of three personnel and serious injuries to one," he said.
