Updated 26 June 2025 at 19:09 IST
In a sudden turn of events and a massive legal twist, Rajasthan Royals' majority stake holder Manoj Badale has accused former co-owner Raj Kundra of blackmailing him. This comes in during an intense court battle that is going in the London High Court where Manoj Badale and his company Emerging Media Ventures have sued the former co-owner for breaching a confidential 2019 settlement. With the ongoing case between Raj Kundra and Manoj Badale, the Rajasthan based franchise has once again come under controversy.
Raj Kundra sent an email to Manoj Badale, the former co-owner of Rajasthan Royals alleged that he was ‘misled and defrauded’ out of the actual value of his stake in the franchise. The email also included a threat that Kundra had complained to the Indian authorities and if things did not get sorted out, he would then escalate the matter to the BCCI.
Court filings also revealed that Raj Kundra had contacted the disgraced IPL founder Lalit Modi while also stating that Badale will ‘pay dearly’ for undercutting him. As things stand right now, Badale's legal team which is led by Adam Speker has termed Kundra's actions as blackmail.
As things stand right now, Badale's legal team have managed to get an injunction which puts a stop on Raj Kundra making derogatory remarks. Raj Kundra's lawyer William McCormick has pushed back against the claims of blackmail.
The court case which is currently ongoing in the London High Court has opened up a lot of doors to the backroom ownership styles of Rajasthan Royals, a franchise which has won the IPL trophy only once, back in 2008. The main cause for the dispute between Manoj Badale and Raj Kundra is the 11.7% stake once held by Raj Kundra in the team.
Raj Kundra had been forced to let go of his stake in the team during the 2015 IPL betting scandal which saw the team getting banned for two years from the tournament. Now after almost 10 years, Raj Kundra has alleged that he was cheated out of the true value of his stake in the team by Manoj Badale.
Published 26 June 2025 at 19:09 IST