The suspended IPL commissioner, in his reply to the third show-cause notice slapped on him by the BCCI, blamed board secretary N Srinivasan for the delay in signing the deal.
Suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi, in his reply to the third show-cause notice slapped on him by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said there was no violation of the clauses of 'invitation to tender' in awarding of theatrical rights for IPL 3.
"There was neither any violation of ITT terms issued by the BCCI on the theatrical rights nor any operational precedent of the BCCI or IPL was violated [in the awarding of the rights]," Modi's counsel Mehmood Abdi said.
Abdi said Entertainment Sports Direct (ESD) won the theatrical rights for US $41.40 million outbidding Triplecom Media, who had quoted US $23 million. The base price was fixed at $20 million.
Modi's counsel blamed BCCI secretary N Srinivasan for the considerable delay in signing the deal though the IPL governing council had approved it on November 12, 2009.
The agreement was signed only on January 22, 2010, while the IPL was to begin on March 12.
As ESD was based outside India it required regulatory clearances which could not come about in time, he said.
"The inordinate delay in the signing of the agreement was caused by the conduct of the honorary secretary of the BCCI," Abdi said.
Modi's 50-page reply (with attachments) to the third show-cause notice was emailed to the BCCI yesterday by the suspended T20 league's chief. The hard copy was handed over to BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty today by Abdi.
Abdi said non-signing of the agreement by Modi would have deprived Indian viewers of the chance to watch the IPL action on theatre screens and the board would have lost a new revenue stream.
Abdi said a similar delay by Srinivasan during IPL 2 over selling of theatrical rights caused a financial loss to the BCCI.
He also said the tender did not forbid the successful bidder from roping in another partner and UFO Movies, which has the largest reach in the number of screens, was chosen by the bidder to be a partner.
"IPL did not have any say on who the bidders chose [as partners]," Modi's counsel said. "Further the assignment was permitted in the ITT."
The second charge slapped on Modi in the show-cause notice related to selling of 150-second commercial spots in between deliveries in an over during the telecast of IPL matches. Abdi said the idea was approved by the governing council on March 7.
"For the first time it was suggested by the marketing experts from both IMG [the event management firm] and the IPL to monetise it for introducing a fresh revenue stream for the BCCI and the governing council approved it on March 7, 2010," Modi's counsel said.
With the IPL scheduled to start just five days later, there was no time to float a tender for selling these rights, Abdi said.
"To safeguard the BCCI's interest in the best possible manner, the rights were granted to Pioneer Digadsis on a non-exclusive basis for an estimated revenue of Rs28 crore," he said.
Abdi said the spectacular success of the IPL in a short span of two years was mainly due to the circumvention of organisational red tape.
Operational requirements need spot decisions to be taken, he said. "This was one such example where the governing council had to [later] ratify the decision," he said.
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