BCCI, former IPL heads slapped with hefty fine by ED

The Indian Premier League is one of the most successful tournaments in the sporting arena in India. The tournament has become the cash cow of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the organizers associated with the tournament. However, a recent ruling from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has imposed a heavy fine on the organizers of the IPL and a few former officials associated with the league.

The Enforcement Directorate, or the ED, was a committee set up by the Indian government that is responsible for enforcement of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and certain provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The recent reports in DNA India suggest that a special director of the central probe agency has imposed a cumulative fine of INR 121 crore on the organizers of the IPL. The season of the IPL that is under the lens is the 2009 edition. The 2009 edition of the T20 competition had taken place in South Africa. The tournament had to be shifted out of India due a clash of dates with the General Elections in the country.

Lalit Modi, N Srinivasan fined

The ED has levied an imposition of INR 82.66 crore on the BCCI, INR 11.53 crore on the former BCCI Chairman N Srinivasan, INR 10.65 crore on the former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, INR 9.72 crore on the former BCCI treasurer MP Pandove, and INR 7 crore on the State Bank of Travancore which is now merged with the SBI. The cumulative total of the above comes to INR 121.56 crore.

The reason behind this being the breaching of the FEMA rules. Over INR 243 crore was sent out of the country for hosting the 2009 edition of the IPL. The FEMA order was clear in the verdict stating that this transfer of funds violated the RBI guidelines that are in place for transferring the funds out of the country. The ED order has asked all the mentioned parties to deposit the imposition amounts in the government exchequer within 45 days time.

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