Lalit Modi will be submitting his reply to the BCCI’s show-cause notice, issued on April 26, tomorrow in Mumbai
Nagraj Gollapudi14-May-2010Lalit Modi will be submitting his reply to the BCCI’s show-cause notice,issued on April 26, tomorrow in Mumbai. On Monday, Modi had asked fora five-day extension to the original 15-day deadline, as he wantedadditional documents from the board to prepare his defence. The boardobliged on both counts and Modi is likely to appear in person onSaturday afternoon at the BCCI headquarters.”We will be submitting the reply to the BCCI in the second halftomorrow,” Mehmood Abdi, one of the legal counsels for Modi, toldCricinfo. As for whether Modi would be present, Abdi said it was up in theair.When asked if there is any particular time frame for the board before it makes a final decision, Abdi said he was optimistic about a favourable decision in his client’s favour. “Our reply has been clear. The board’s president [Shashank Manohar] isan eminent lawyer, so it should not take him a long time, we hope, to make a decision.”And was he confident the board would clear Modi of allallegations? Abdi, most certainly, was. “We hope our replysatisfies the board and that it would revoke the show-cause and alsore-instate Mr Lalit Modi to all positions in the BCCI from which hewas suspended.”Modi was suspended by the BCCI on April 26, soon after the conclusion ofthe IPL, which sent him a show-cause notice asking him to reply to aslew of charges relating to the conduct of the high-profile Twenty20league. Modi was alleged to have indulged in financial deals withoutthe knowledge of the IPL governing council, bid-rigging and to be displaying abehavioural pattern which was not acceptable.In the last week Modi has been constantly communicating with the board viaemails asking for various documents related specifically to the fivecharges slapped against him. N Srinivasan, the board secretary,replied elaborately to Modi on Tuesday, citing the various reasons andevidence stacked against him [Modi], also speaking of “reliable sources”who had verbally told the board president Shashank Manohar about hismisdeeds which they felt had brought disrepute only to the board butalso the game of cricket.Modi attacked the board for utilising “unknown” sources, calling them”fictitious”, particularly when the board refused to reveal their names.