Government may turn Lalit Modi into handy weapon to silence Opposition

The Narendra Modi government is planning its line of action to nail down Lalit Modi, as it firefights the opposition tirade against it.

According to government sources, some moves could be made before the monsoon session, which the Congress has threatened to disrupt.

The government has on its agenda the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and land acquisition bills, among others, for the session, which begins around July 20.

The BJP has defended its two leaders, who have been in the eye of a storm-- external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje-- in the Lalit Modi row, adding fuel to the opposition offensive.

The government is now focusing on various probes involving the former IPL chief, a strategy it hopes could blunt the opposition campaign and counter its questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence with action.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had said last week that a light blue-corner notice issued by the directorate of revenue on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued in 2010 was valid even today.

He had also pointed out that of the 16 investigations, show- cause notices had been issued to Lalit Modi in 15 cases, while one was being probed.

Government sources said that the ED was in the process of serving the final penalty notices in 16 alleged forex violation cases, amounting to an estimated Rs 1,700 crore against the former IPL chairman.

Two other instances of suspected contravention of foreign exchange laws and hawala transactions are being investigated and a third case of money-laundering is "under way". It relates to the alleged misappropriation of funds in the allotment of media rights by the BCCI in 2009.

Around 16 cases being probed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) are in the final stages of adjudication, sources said. The final orders for penalty will be served in the coming weeks against the accused, they said.

Other top functionaries of the IPL and the BCCI, besides Modi, are also under the scanner. The cases amount to violations of an estimated Rs 1,700 crore and the maximum penalty that can be slapped on the accused could be three times this amount.

The ED, in February, had slapped a Rs 425-crore show-cause notice against Modi, former BCCI president N Srinivasan, IPL and some private multimedia firms for alleged contravention of forex laws in awarding media rights contract in 2009.

The money-laundering case, registered early this year, has been filed by the ED, based on an FIR filed by the Chennai police on Srinivasan's complaint on suspected bungling of funds in awarding the broadcasting rights of BCCI-IPL cricket matches.

Discussions are also on with the law ministry to explore the possibility of converting the light blue-notice to a red-corner notice, which will restrict the movement of Lalit Modi, who has been freely globe-trotting.

Meanwhile, the BJP is banking on the division in the opposition to weaken the Congress plans to corner the government in Parliament.

"The Congress is threatening to derail the monsoon session, but with most other opposition parties, barring the Left, having backed Sushma Swaraj, it will find itself isolated," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.