‘Whatever I Was Saying Emerged As Truth’: Lalit Modi Set For India Return After Major Relief in 16-Year-Old IPL FEMA Case

In a major development, Indian Premier League (IPL) founder and former chairman Lalit Modi is preparing to return home after 16 years. His decision follows significant relief granted by the Appellate Tribunal in the 2009 IPL South Africa Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case. Modi, who has lived outside India since 2010, stated that the verdict brings a 16-year legal battle to a close. He now plans to return to India by late this year or early next year.

In a video message to ANI, Modi expressed his satisfaction with the outcome:

“I'm really happy with the verdict yesterday. It's really been a great day. Sixteen years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth. I'm really happy that the tribunal has ruled in my favour. I was only concerned with the well-being of the IPL and nothing and nothing at all. That is the most dear to me. Now that chapter is behind me, I'm going to move on in my life and I'm looking forward to coming back to India.”

Homecoming Planned After Family Milestone

Connecting his return to a major personal occasion, Modi explained that he will travel to India after the birth of his grandson. "I will come back probably at the end of this year or early next year. My daughter is due with my grandson in October and hopefully everything will be well and I'll be back in India."

Tribunal Overturns ED Findings Against Modi

The judgment was delivered on July 16 by the Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA). The tribunal set aside most of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) findings and penalties against Modi and other appellants in the principal proceedings tied to the 2009 IPL season held in South Africa.

According to the tribunal, no material evidence existed to establish that Modi was responsible for the alleged FEMA violations in the principal proceedings.

The Origins of the 2009 South Africa Case

The legal proceedings stem back to 2009, when the entire IPL tournament was relocated to South Africa because it coincided with India's general elections. The ED had launched action over foreign exchange remittances sent abroad to organize the event, claiming prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was mandatory.

Welcoming the tribunal’s decision, Modi noted that it completely dismantled the core of the ED's case against him. "The Tribunal has rejected the central premise on which the Enforcement Directorate's case against me had been built. It held that the principal foreign remittances relating to the staging of IPL 2009 in South Africa were current account transactions, not capital account transactions, thereby overturning the foundation of the earlier findings."

Relief for the Architect of the IPL

This ruling marks a major win for Modi, who conceptualized the IPL and served as its inaugural chairman and commissioner. He left the country in 2010 amid multiple probes by the ED, the Income Tax Department, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Earlier on Tuesday, a bench consisting of Chairman Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Member Rajesh Malhotra partially allowed the appeals against the ED's order from May 31, 2018. That previous order had levied penalties worth crores on the BCCI, Lalit Modi, N Srinivasan, M P Pandove, the State Bank of India, and former bank chief manager A K Nazeer Khan.

The tribunal also cleared the authorized dealer bank and its officer of any wrongdoing, concluding that the foreign transfers occurred during regular business operations and did not amount to FEMA breaches.

BCCI Penalties Modified

While clearing Modi of principal liability, the tribunal maintained the ED's stance on two limited issues regarding the BCCI:

• Remittance discrepancies: It upheld a ₹4 crore penalty on the BCCI for remitting funds higher than the amounts recorded in its account books.
• Delayed repatriation: It acknowledged a delay in bringing ticket sale funds back to India, though it reduced the BCCI's penalty from ₹4 crore to ₹1 crore since the money was ultimately repatriated.

However, the tribunal set aside the penalty on Lalit Modi regarding the delayed repatriation, observing that he had already been suspended and was no longer in charge when the funds were brought back.

Stand on Acting in Good Faith

In an official statement, Modi reiterated that throughout the 16-year dispute, he acted "in good faith, in the best interests of Indian cricket and the IPL, and committed no personal wrongdoing".

He highlighted that moving the tournament abroad in 2009 was an emergency measure caused by national elections: "The successful staging of that season ensured that the IPL survived and ultimately became one of the world's most valuable sporting properties," the statement said.

Rejecting the 'Fugitive' Label

In an interview with ANI in June, Modi firmly dismissed the 'fugitive' tag frequently attached to his name, highlighting that he has never been convicted of a single crime. He rejected claims that he has been hiding from Indian authorities, blaming media narrative rather than legal reality: "I'm not running at all. I'm going all over the world. If I was running, you would be picking me up somewhere or the other. The Indian government has a long arm... You can't take on the government of India. And I don't intend to. It's not the government. It's the media," he said.    
 

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