By all accounts Lalit Modi is a tough cookie. It would be reckless to judge him, an affluent, pedigreed, former accused in drug and robbery criminal cases, by the usual yardstick reserved for pressured celebrities. The IPL scam erupted from the Kochi franchise to open a full can of worms that is infesting cricketing commerce. The Kochi team was sold for Rs.1530 crore to a consortium including Rendezvous Sports World which was given 25 per cent of the franchise for free. Former Minister Shashi Tharoor interceded with Lalit Modi on behalf of Rendezvous Sports World. After Lalit Modi revealed that 18 per cent of the free stake was given to Tharoor’s friend Sunanda Pushkar all hell broke loose. Tharoor had to resign while stoutly maintaining his innocence.

Did Tharoor intervene for Rendezvous to help Pushkar or someone much more powerful? If Lalit Modi had intervened for Tharoor would he have exposed Pushkar’s stake in Kochi? By exposing Pushkar’s involvement was he issuing a veiled warning to someone more powerful? Modi in his tweets claimed he was asked not to get into who owns Rendezvous. “I was told by him (Tharoor) not to get into who owns Rendezvous.” Was Tharoor protecting the identity of Pushkar or someone much more powerful?

There are two theories circulating in the grapevine. First, that Sharad Pawar, BCCI Chief Manohar and Modi have no real differences. The BCCI-Modi dispute is stage managed. According to plan Modi will be eventually exonerated. This gets credence from the BCCI statement that if the charges leveled against Modi lack sufficient substance the inquiry against him would be dropped. The second theory making the rounds is that Modi, Pawar and Manohar have evidence about the real stakeholders of the Kochi franchise which if revealed could destroy the UPA government. 

If there is any substance in these theories the latest moves in the drama could be ominous for the government.

The BCCI demanded all the original IPL documents in Modi’s possession. Modi has responded by saying he would surrender all documents only to an authorized person. Does that imply a person Okayed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)? Does that imply that ED in the natural course will be privy to all the documents in Modi’s possession? If so, Modi will have revealed all under unavoidable compulsion. He would not have ratted. Modi signed his reply to BCCI as the IPL Commissioner (suspended). Clearly he expects to be back in business. Much will depend on how explosive are the documents in his possession. It will depend on whether any VVIP gets exposed. The coming days should tell us whether theories in circulation have substance or are simply hot air.