These days every controversy calls for a public interest litigation (PIL), especially when there are prominent personalities involved. Over the last week, litigations concerning cricket have been filed in various courts across the country against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with respect to the Indian Premier League (IPL) controversy.

Although there were reports of the Commissioner of the IPL, Lalit Modi moving the Bombay High Court to stop the IPL Governing Council from meeting today, there was no confirmation on the Bombay High Court website about his petition at the time of going to press. Modi was supposed to challenge the Governing Council’s right to convene a meeting on Friday last. Late last evening after the IPL final match, BCCI is supposed to have emailed his suspension order. BCCI has slapped 22 charges alleging him of bringing disrepute to the game of cricket, corruption and bid rigging amongst several other charges. However, his suspension will definitely mean that Modi will be approaching the High Court or even the Supreme Court for remedy. Modi is supposed to have been advised by Senior Advocates Ram Jethmalani and Harish Salve, who are arch rivals themselves.

On April 23, former BCCI President, A.C. Muthiah filed an appeal in the apex court challenging the order of the Madras High Court which had declined to interfere in relation to an amendment of the IPL rules which allowed members of BCCI to hold commercial interests in the IPL franchisees. N. Srinivasan, who is currently the Secretary of BCCI and the owner of the Chennai Super Kings team, against whom the petitions are directed, has filed caveats in the Supreme Court. Muthiah, as also IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, have also challenged the legality of the April 26 meeting of the governing council of the IPL, saying there was conflict of interest over the person who has convened it.

Meanwhile in Karnataka, S. Vasudev, a lawyer, filed a PIL on April 20, demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the actions of Lalit Modi. Reports indicate that his petition has also challenged the decision to shift the venue of the semi-finals alleging that the actions are malafide and unfair on account of lack of transparency and political interference in the IPL. A division bench consisting of Justices Manjula Chellur and Mohan Shantanagoudar is hearing the case.

The Bombay High Court is also witnessing its fair share of PILs related to this matter. A PIL was filed in the Bombay High Court on April 21 challenging the entertainment tax exemptions granted to the IPL by the Maharashtra State Government. The court has sought details of all sources of income generated by the BCCI from IPL matches played in Maharashtra, as well as the other matches scheduled in Maharashtra. The petition was moved by Shiv Sena MLA, Subhash Desai and filed by his lawyer, Balkrishna Joshi. Government Advocate D. Nalavade, informed the court that a decision was yet to be taken by the State Government on the issue of tax exemptions.

However, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has filed a report and has said that IPL flouted the May 1964 Government Resolution exempting sporting activities (excluding race meetings) from payment of entertainment duty as the IPL matches “were of a purely commercial nature”. The franchisee owners of the eight teams comprising business tycoons and film stars “spent crores of rupees to buy the teams and players from all cricket playing nations for the world's richest cricket tournament,” says the report. The matter is scheduled to be heard today.

Ajay Agarwal, a lawyer had filed a PIL before the Supreme Court earlier this month seeking the apex court to direct the CBI to conduct a probe into the financial dealings of the Kochi bid, and in particular, the allotment of Rs.74 crore ($16.4 million) worth “sweat” equity, in Rendezvous Sports World, the consortium owning the Kochi team to Sunanda Pushkar. It was also alleged that Sunanda Pushkar, a friend of former Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, is only a front for the Minister and was not responsible for any activities for the Kochi team. Agarwal has stated in his petition, “The Petitioner has reasonable apprehension that hawala and black money have also played a big role in this Kochi IPL case.” He has sought the court to direct a Special Investigation Team or the CBI, to conduct a probe. Pushkar has since returned the shares. However, it is interesting to note that there is no provision for a voluntary return of equity. Under the law, a shareholder cannot give his or her share back to the company. The company has to buy back the shares under certain conditions, which under Section 77(a) of the Companies Act has to be authorized by the Articles of Association and a special resolution has to be passed. Ashish Mehta, a Delhi based lawyer, is advising Sunanda Pushkar on these intricate legal issues.

At the time of this article going to press, the income tax authorities have been conducting raids on the premises of various teams including, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils to ascertain the shareholding structures of the teams. There is widespread suspicion of proxy ownership structures of various IPL team franchisees as well as of irregular fund transfers and evasion of withholding tax particularly, through the use of the Mauritius route.

Along with Income Tax authorities, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has also joined the probe team. For CCI, the scope of the investigation is to examine if there has been any unfair trade practices adopted during the bidding process to allot teams. It may also look into the scope of unfair trade practices involved in the alleged payment of facilitation fee by broadcasting agency Multi Screen Media (MSM) (erstwhile, Sony Entertainment) to marketing company World Sports Group (WSG).

The IPL controversies have already claimed Tharoor, the man whose Twitter links opened a can of worms, as its first victim. Whether or not they claim Modi and the high profile owners of certain IPL teams remains to be seen. Modi, the man with the Midas touch stands in the dock. Whether the taxman or the man with the Midas touch emerges the winner, Indian sports will ultimately be the biggest loser in this tussle.