Lalit Kumar Modi, (Hindi: लिलत कुमार मोदी; born November 29, 1963, Delhi, India) is the

founder and architect of the Indian Premier League.[4]

Best known for his stint as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League and
the Chairman of the Champions League, between 2008 and 2010, he has also occupied the roles
of Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), between 2005 and
September 2010, and Vice President of the Punjab Cricket Association.[5]

Lalit Modi, the comissioner of the IPL is now surrounded with huge IPL controversies and
might give his resignation after the IPL 2010 final.There are several allegations from match
fixing to IPL betting on him.The Indian Government launched a multi agaency investigation into
the functioning pattern of IPL.

The main controversy of IPL between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor started with the Kochi
Franchise for which atlast Shashi Tharoor had to resign from his ministry .Lalit Modi also now
may resign and he may be replaced by Shashank Manohar ,who is the current BCCI president.

On 25 April 2010, the BCCI suspended Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, for "alleged acts of
individual misdemeanours". The suspension notice was served on him by Rajeev Shukla, BCCI
vice-president, and N Srinivasan, the board secretary, sending an e-mail to the same effect. It
followed a day of negotiations with interlocutors attempting to persuade Modi to resign but pre-
empted a potentially flashpoint at a scheduled IPL governing council meeting, which Modi had
said he would attend. Modi was officially barred from participating in the affairs of the Board,
the IPL and any other committee of the BCCI.[15]

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi ‘Twitter’ Tharoor, who has been targeted by IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi
allegedly for having instructed him not to reveal identities of the stakeholders of Kochi IPL franchisee, has denied the
allegation. Shashi Tharoor told the media on Tuesday that he denies Modi’s allegation that he had called him during
his meeting with investors in the Kochi consortium in Bangalore and forced him not to question the composition of the
consortium.

The escalation of the war of words came about when Shashi Tharoor reiterated that he called up Modi only to ask
why he was further delaying the approval of the franchise when all the legal requirements had been fulfilled. He
pointed out that Lalit Modi had been delaying approval of the franchisee agreement. According to Tharoor, Modi was
doing so as he wanted a reversal of a change in the document that he himself had earlier suggested. Even after the
change was made, Modi seemed like seeking a further excuse to delay approval. Tharoor said it was at this point he
had intervened.

The flashpoint was reached on Monday after Lalit Modi sent out a tweet against Shashi Tharoor saying that the
minister had accused him of asking Modi not to probe into who are behind the Rendezvous Sports World group,
owners of the Kochi team. He also went on to reveal the details of the different partners and their stake in the Kochi
team.
Even as Lalit Modi continued his trade, Shashi Tharoor has gone on record via an official statement saying that a
consortium led by Rendezvous was set up to bid for an IPL team. “I steered them towards Kerala. Rendezvous
includes a number of people, including many I have never met, and Sunanda Pushkar, whom I know well”. Sunanda
Pushkar, in the meanwhile, is now being linked to Tharoor and there is talk of an impending wedding soon.

Tharoor went on to add that attempts were made by Modi and others to pressure the consortium members to
abandon their bid in favour of another city in a different state. Lalit Modi raised assorted objections to the bid
documents but finally had no choice but to approve them, he said. The Minister also blasted Modi’s breach of
propriety in publicly raising issues relating to the composition of the consortium. The war is now on, far away from the
cricket pitch.

Shashi Tharoor (Malayalam: ശശി തരര‍) (born 9 March 1956) is a member of the Indian
Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. He previously served as the
United Nations Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and as the
Minister of State for the Ministry of External Affairs (India).

April 2010:
April 9, 2010: Questions raised in media over Kochi’s shareholding pattern. IPL asks
Rendezvous to clarify its ownership structure.

April 10-11, 2010: Kochi owners meet Modi in Bangalore, sign formal agreement to be part of
IPL, and disclose ownership structure. The shareholding pattern of Kochi franchisee disclosed by
Modi on Twitter. Name of Sunanda Pushkar comes in light. The Modi tweet says that one
shareholder is Sunanda Pushkar, whom Tharoor says he “knows well”.

April 12-13-14: Kochi franchisee makes complaints of Modi to BCCI , Modi defends himself.
Statement of Tharoor comes in which Tharoor issues statement denying personal stake in Kochi
and alleges Modi wants the franchise moved out. Kochi CEO alleges Modi offered them $50
million to “quit the game and get out” after their successful bid.

April 15: Income Tax officials visit BCCI headquarters in Mumbai and conduct an eight-hour
operation in the IPL office and Modi’s residence to inquire into funding for the IPL.

April 16, 2010:

Parliament witnesses uproar over the IPL franchise controversy. Both the Houses of the
Parliament adjourned twice. The Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm and the Rajya Sabha for the day.
When the House met, the Minister of State for External Affairs Mr.Shashi Tharoor stood up to
make a statement. Amid uproar, his statement was laid on the table of the House. Angry
opposition members trooped into the well of the House seeking the removal of Tharoor from the
Council of Ministers. The Speaker adjourned the house. Similar scene in the Rajya Sabha.

Shashi Tharoor strongly refuted the allegations against him leveled by the opposition asserting
that he has neither invested nor received any financial benefit from IPL Kochi teams mentorship.
He says that his involvement in the Kochi IPL bid was that of an “informal mentor”. he also
denied reports that he had used his official position to benefit the consortium. He also said that
the Kochi issue had nothing to do with his ministry and he was in no position to influence the
bidding process.

April 17, 2010:

Shashi Tharoor dismissed the demand for his resignation and rejected opposition allegations of
any misuse of authority to influence IPL Kochi franchise’s successful bid or get any financial
gains for him or his any of his close friends .Meanwhile the Income Tax department widened its
search operations bringing under its scanner Kings XI Punjab team as part of its countrywide
probe into the IPL bidding process
The Indian Premier League (IPL) Kochi team ownership controversy has snowballed into a bitter
battle between External Affairs Minister Shashi Tharoor and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.

Buzz up!
The issue began few days ago when the IPL Kochi team franchisee, Rendezvous Sports World Pvt
Ltd, was issued an ultimatum from BCCI to clarify over the alleged 25 per cent stake sale of the
team to unknown buyers.

The minister's name was dragged in when Modi revealed the names of some of the owners of the
consortium that bought the franchisee. He alleged that Tharoor had asked him to not to ask who the
shareholders were.

Besides asking Modi not to seek the identity of the Rendezvous stakeholders, Tharoor also drew
negative attention when it was learnt that Sunanda Pushkar, who is reportedly set to marry the
minister, also was one among the stakeholders revealed by Modi.

Media reports say that Sunanda, a socialite who has been seen with Tharoor on various occasions,
owns 18 per cent of Rendezvous shares.

These latest developments in the Kochi team controversy has led to many questions being raised
against Tharoor, who had earlier claimed that he only advised the Kochi bidders and he had no
involvement beyond that.

The minister on Tuesday, Apr 13 released a press statement on the IPL allegations, which read,

"A consortium led by Rendezvous was set up to bid for an IPL team. They approached me for help
and guidance. I steered them towards Kerala. Rendezvous includes a number of people, including
many I have never met, and Sunanda Pushkar, whom I know well.

"My role in mentoring the consortium included several conversations with Mr Lalit Modi, who guided
us through the process and presented himself as a trusted friend."

Besides trying to clear off his name from the controversy, the minister has now alleged that "Modi
and others to pressure the consortium members to abandon their bid in favour of another city in a
different state."

The Congress, on the other hand, has made it clear that it wants to have nothing to do with
Tharoor's IPL controversy or his marriage plans.