Manmohan Singh Take Effective Action In The IPL Issue

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised effective action in the IPL issue if any wrongdoings were found during investigations.

"There was a discussion on this issue in Parliament and the Finance Minister also gave a reply. He said that the Finance Ministry is investigating the issue and if anything comes out of it, then we will take effective action," Singh said when asked to comment on alleged black money involved in the Twenty-20 cricket league.

After a public spat between former minister Shashi Tharoor and suspended IPL Chief Lalit Modi, the issue was discussed in Parliament during the second half of the Budget session.

There were allegations that black money was also invested in the IPL teams.

The IPL bid for two new teams from 2011 season opened a can of worms, leading to the then Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor losing his job, while IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi was suspended for alleged financial irregularities and bid-rigging.

Tharoor found himself in the eye of a storm after it was revealed that his friend Sunanda Pushkar had a ’sweat equity’ in Rendezvous Sports World which had coughed up Rs 1533 cr to win the Kochi franchisee. Tharoor denied having any financial stake in RSW, saying he merely played the mentor’s role in forming the consortium.

Modi, meanwhile, was accused of trying to rig RSW’s bid to get another franchise on board. Modi was also labelled charges of making proxy investment through his relatives, which prompted the BCCI to suspend him pending a probe into the matter.

The issue rocked the parliament as well with the opposition claiming IPL had become a cesspool of corruption and money-laundering with some members even going to the extent of demanding that the league be scrapped.

Following this, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had assured an investigation into the financial transactions in the IPL.

"I can assure you that all aspects of IPL will be probed, inclusive of the sources of funding, how the funds were routed and invested," Mukherjee had told the Lok Sabha.

Mukherjee said the Ministry was looking into allegations of both tax evasion and money-laundering.