New Delhi, June 4 (IANS) Indian Premier League’s suspended chief Lalit Modi Friday clarified that former Indian cricket board chief Sharad Pawar and his family had no involvement in the failed bid for IPL Pune franchise.
bid by City Corporation’s managing director Aniruddha Deshpande.
A leading newspaper Friday claimed that Pawar and his family hold over roughly 16 percent in City Corporation, a Pune-based construction company that bid Rs.1,176 crore ($261.1m) for the Pune franchise in March but lost out to Sahara’s Rs.1,703 crore ($370m)bid.
Modi, who is in Rome, said on the social networking site Twitter that Pawar family had no stakes in the bid.
‘Mr.Pawar and his family had nothing to do with the bid made by Aniruddha Deshpande. He or his family have no stake,’ Modi tweeted.
‘Mr.Anirudh Deshpande and his consortium clearly stated in their bid documents that they will set up a Newco if they were successful bidders in the IPL auction.’
Modi, who has been suspended as the IPL chairman and commissioner on the series of charges by the BCCI, also told a television channel that the bid was made by Deshpande and that the Pawar family had no part in it.
‘He (Pawar) directly or indirectly was never part of any bidding process,’ Modi said. ‘Aniruddha, who was the key promoter of the Pune-based City Corporation consortium, bid only for qualification purpose as an individual at that point of time. He has qualified for the documents putting together the company he was bidding for,’ Modi said.
‘He got new investors and the list of investors that are going to be investing in it which include him and the other people.’
‘Pawar and family has nothing to do with the bidding documents and with the bid that was made by Mr Deshpande. He lost it anyway,’ Modi told a TV news channel.
The paper claimed Pawar, his wife and daughter Supriya Sule together own 3.36 million shares out of a total of 20.7 million shares. The shares are split between two companies – Lap Finance and Consultancy Pvt Ltd and Namratta Film Enterprises Pvt Ltd – both of which are wholly owned by Pawar, his wife Pratibha and daughter Supriya Sule.
While acknowledging the bid, Sule was quoted as saying by the paper that the bid was made by Deshpande in his ‘personal capacity’, and that the company board had passed a resolution stating it would have nothing to do with the bid.
‘Nobody supported it. The board meeting was on March 17, and the resolution was probably passed on March 19.’
Deshpande said the bid documents were bought and submitted in City Corporation’s name but maintained that the company had allowed him to use the name only for the purpose of bidding. If they had won the bid, it would have be en executed by a ‘different consortium, comprising Akruti, (a Mumbai-based construction firm), the Maharashtra Cricket Association, etc.’
‘They (Pawar family) are not involved. I am the managing director. There is no control,’ Deshpande said.
