NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Income tax officials digging into IPL papers have failed to locate two vital documents — the bid papers of the Videocon and Adani Groups, whose failure to win teams for Pune and Ahmedabad is said to be at the root of the Lalit Modi-Shashi Tharoor battle.
Sources in the government said I-T sleuths had searched high and low for the files related to these two failed bids but have found nothing. The Adani Group, a $5-billion Gujarat-based conglomerate, is headed by Gautam Adani, while Videocon, a $4-billion diversified group, is led by Venugopal Dhoot.
Sleuths said the absence of the documents could leave a crucial hole in the probe which, among other things, is seeking to establish the fairness of the bidding process. The missing files could settle one way or the other the widespread perception that the first round of bidding —- on March 7 in Mumbai —- for the two new IPL teams was tweaked to favour Dhoot and Adani.
Stiff conditions were placed in that round — such as bank guarantees worth $100 million and a net worth of $1 billion — and are cited to insinuate a conspiracy in favour of these two big players and disqualify smaller bidders.
BCCI chief Shashank Manohar remarked on the skew in the auction norms as he asked for a fresh round of bidding. The second round on March 21, minus these two conditionalities, went all wrong for the Dhoots and Adanis.
I-T serves summons on BCCI
MUMBAI: Having swung fully into the probe of the Indian Premier League affair, the Income Tax (Invetsigations) unit of Mumbai has now served a 10-point summons including one on accounts to the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI). The cricket board has to furnish details of the same by April 23.
The summons (a copy of which is in possession of TOI), asks the BCCI to produce all bidding documents of all the IPL franchisees, documents relating to ownerships/shareholding of the franchisees, names and addresses of the entities/owners, details of deposits/advances made by the franchisees to IPL/BCCI, details of payments made to these franchisees by IPL/BCCI in the form of income or capital, balance sheet/profit & loss account of IPL since inception, balance sheet/profit & loss account of BCCI indicating income/receipts from IPL, explanation on the manner in which the income has been treated in the accounts, details of amount of any kind received from all parties who had undertaken transactions with IPL and details of auction of players of each team and the condition of payments/details of payments made.
Apart from the BCCI secretary and treasurer a copy of the summons has also been sent to the IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. The summons were served on April 16.
Sources said that it is likely that the BCCI has been evading taxes citing itself to be an autonomous body promoting cricket as a charity. Thanks to the IPL, tax exemption to BCCI was withdrawn in November 2009.
Interestingly, the IPL is not a tax entity as yet but the BCCI will now surely come under the tax net, added sources. The investigation is a detailed one and is expected to take a few months for the assessment.
Following assessment of BCCI for 2006-07, the tax department had raised a demand of Rs 118 crore, including penalties and interest. During the year, BCCI had a total income of Rs 224 crore.
The BCCI had already paid part of the taxes but challenged the notice in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal-Mumbai (ITAT) against the decision of the revenue department to withdraw the tax exemption given to it earlier.
Central Board of Direct Taxes sources further said that the tax authorities would scrutinize the returns of the BCCI for 2007-08 and 2008-09 and raise demands.
The BCCI has not paid any advance tax till now and hence the tax liability will also include interest and penalties, they said.
BCCI, which is registered as a society, files returns in Mumbai. In June 2007, the cricket body had changed its memorandum of association to undertake commercial activities like the IPL.
£2m bets in UK, Rs 5000cr in India on IPL
MUMBAI: It looks like fears expressed in Parliament by both the ruling and opposition parties that the IPL has become an underworld den of betting might, after all, be true.
Investigations by TOI show that a whopping Rs 3,500 crore has already changed hands while another Rs 1,500 crore has been pledged on the remaining matches, as the country's rich and poor stake their money on virtually every odd being offered on the IPL.
Sources confirm that Rs 1,500 crore has been staked on the two semifinals, the final and the playoff match. Money has been pouring into international betting sites too, with Ladbrokes confirming that £2 million have already been bet in the UK.
In India betting circles in Gujarat have been extremely busy. Sources say, of the Rs 3,500 crore, over 50% was pumped in from Saurashtra and Kutch alone.
SC’s Ishrat order another blow to Modi
NEW DELHI: The sensational report by Ahmedabad magistrate S P Tamang damning the Gujarat police for the cold blooded killing of Ishrat Jehan and Javed Gulam Mohammed Sheikh allegedly in a fake encounter in 2004 received some credence from the Supreme Court on Monday.
The manner in which the Narendra Modi government had got a stay from a single-judge Bench of the Gujarat high court by filing an application in a pending petition of Ishrat’s mother seeking an independent probe, the unnecessary criticism of Tamang by the high court and the inquiry initiated about his propriety in conducting the inquiry were frowned upon by the Suprem Court.
A Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar did not interfere with the HC single judge Bench’s order staying implementation of the magisterial probe report, but it did restrain the special police team set up by the HC to study it and take appropriate action. Moreover, it requested the HC Chief Justice to constitute a division Bench to hear the plea of Ishrat’s mother seeking a CBI probe into the incident and said till the division Bench decided the matter, the special police team would not “deal with the magistrate’s report in any manner whatsoever”.
Setting aside the inquiry ordered on the propriety of the magistrate to conduct the inquiry, the Bench said: “We fail to appreciate as to why and what made the single judge to make such observations even while the very application filed by the State is kept pending for its adjudication.” “The directions to the Registrar General to make a detailed inquiry into the matter which led to holding of inquiry by the magistrate under Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code is also set aside,” it said.
Expressing serious reservations over the manner in which the proceedings were conducted by the single judge of the HC, the apex court said observations made by HC would have no bearing on the merits of the case and its adjudication afresh by the division Bench of the HC, which would also consider maintainability of the Gujarat government’s application in the petition filed by Shamima Kauser, the mother of Ishrat.
Business News
Residential housing prices in Mumbai are expected to move further upside as sales increase and investor sentiments strengthen, a recent real estate report by Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) said.
"Demand for commercial spaces is improving and will continue to do so until the end of 2010. This will translate in to a large number of transactions, both in terms of leases and outright purchases," the report said.
According to the report there is supply coming in on all segments of residential, from luxury to mass housing. The commercial and retail segments are also yielding enough supply to keep the market going over the next year.
In addition, there will be lots of activity on the residential property front, owing to the strong demand and the fact that many developers are going for public funding, the report said.
"Residential is currently in vogue, so this is the area of focus for developers who seek to create brand in order to get on the funding bandwagon," Managing Director (West India), JLLM, Pawan Swamy said.
All these factors, coupled with growing urbanisation, are also fuelling the demand for property constantly. Moreover, with limited space available in the central city, Mumbai's real estate market boundaries are constantly extending into newer area, Swamy said.
Besides, infrastructure projects such as the metro, monorail and flyovers being put in place to boost accessibility more locations within the city and reduce commuting time.
"This is good news for the realty sector in the medium to long-term, depending on the pace at which these measures are implemented," Swami said adding that residential real estate will continue to be in highest demand, and therefore on the priority list of most developers.
Goldman fraud case rattles investors
London: Worries about the impact of fraud charges against Goldman Sachs rattled stock markets on Monday, sending investors in search of less speculative currencies and boosted government bonds.
It combined, in Europe, with concerns over the economic impact of disruption of commerce due to the cloud of Icelandic volcanic ash, which has already cost the airline industry hundreds of millions of dollars, left millions of passengers stranded, and hit importers and exporters.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged Goldman with fraud over its handling of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages.
The result was a wave of risk aversion across financial markets. Some analysts have also been suggesting that equities in particular are due for a pause after world stocks hit a new year high last week.
"What is there to reassure markets and provide that good news to turn around the negative risk environment? It's not clear that there's anything positive coming," said Robert Ryan, currency strategist at BNP Paribas in Singapore.
MSCI's all-country world index .MIWD0000PUS was down 0.7 per cent, with its more volatile emerging market component .MSCIEF off close to 2 per cent.
The latter was on track for its biggest one day fall since Feb. 5.
In Europe, where the airline industry has ground to a halt as a result of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down half a per cent.
Earlier, in Japan, the Nikkei .N225 closed down 1.74 per cent. Market players said the Nikkei was ripe for profit-taking after surging to an 18-month peak earlier this month, in a rally that spurred worries the market may have risen too far, too fast.
YEN RISES
The low-yielding yen rose broadly in a move that reflect concerns among investors.
"People are buying yen on the back of increasing risk aversion. It's risk-off on the Goldman news and worries over this week's EU/IMF meeting on Greece. That's also hitting the euro," said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC markets.
Talks between the EU and IMF, expected to start on Monday, have been delayed to later in the week due to the ash cloud.
The euro was trading down close to 1 per cent versus the yen at 123.30 yen after shedding around 1.5 per cent on Friday after the Goldman news.
‘IPO investors to save Rs 800 cr’
New Delhi:Market regulator Sebi's move to reduce the time lag between the closure of an issue and its listing will save retail buyers about Rs 800 crore annually on interest paid on the money borrowed for investments, says a study by research and rating agency Crisil.
The move by capital market regulator will help investors save interest cost on the fund borrowed for investing in IPOs and get back their money faster.
"The move will reduce the risk of market volatility in the intermediate period and help rotation of investors' money faster thereby enhancing the subscription levels in the forthcoming IPOs," Chetan Majithia, Head of Crisil Equities, said.
The directive, which will come into effect from May 1, is a step towards realigning the Indian market with the best practices in the developed markets where the listing timeframe is 3 days from the closure of issue.
"Sebi's move to cut the time frame between IPO closure and listing will benefit the investors participating in the primary market since it will lower the opportunity cost for funds invested in the IPO," Majithia added.
As per an estimate of Crisil, about Rs 40,000 crore will be raised through IPOs in 2010.
The time frame for listing on stock exchanges in developed markets such as the US, UK and Singapore is three days. Even in some of the emerging markets such as Brazil and Hong Kong it is three days.
Sports News
Kolkata sign off in style, beat Mumbai by nine wickets
Kolkata Knight Riders ended their IPL campaign on a high note, beating table-toppers Mumbai Indians by a convincing nine-wicket margin in the dead rubber at Eden Gardens here today.
Already out of the semifinal reckoning, the hosts put up a splendid all round show and finished in the sixth position with 14 points behind Delhi Daredevils.
Delhi also ended with 14 points but due to their better run-rate (+0.02) they finished one place above Kolkata (-0.34).
Exploiting the slow track, Kolkata restricted the new-look Mumbai Indians to 133 for eight and then overhauled the target with 2.3 overs to spare with Brendon McCullum (57 not out) and Sourav Ganguly (42) playing good knocks at top.
It is for the first time in their last six clashes that Kolkata have defeated Mumbai Indians.
Saurabh Tiwary's sensible 37-ball 46 was cornerstone of Mumbai's total as they made wholesome changes to their side, fielding five new players.
Murali Kartik (2/20) and Shane Bond (2/24) set up the win for Kolkata by their brilliant effort as they restricted Mumbai to their lowest score in this season.
Chasing a modest total, and playing under no pressure, McCullum and skipper Ganguly threw their bat at each and everything and produced the one of the best opening stands for their side in this season.
They rattled up 97 in 13.5 overs to lay the foundation for an easy win.
Ganguly's 36-ball knock had four fours and two sixes and McCullum's 56 ball innings was studded with eight fours.
Ganguly began the scoring by hammering a big six off spinner Ali and McCullum played some really exquisite drives off Ryan McLaren and Dilhara Fernando.
The Sri Lankan paceman was punished by Ganguly too as he was hit for a six and four by the former Indian captain.
Dwayne Bravo, who led the side as Sachin Tendulkar opted to rest, produced a chance to break the partnership but McLaren grassed Ganguly's catch when he was on 22.
At half-way mark, Kolkata were comfortably placed at 72 for no loss but the partnership ended soon with the dismissal of Ganguly.
The local southpaw miscued one shot off R Satish and the ball landed in the hands of Bravo, who nearly messed it up with McLaren.
McCullum and David Hussey (20) then guided the team home comfortably.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians found the going tough after winning the toss as stroke-making was tough on the slow strip and the ball was not coming on to bat.
Ambati Rayudu played a good 27-run cameo down the order to take Mumbai Indians to a fighting total in the dead rubber.
Bond gave Kolkata Knight Riders a perfect start by removing both the openers of the table-toppers, who rested their five players including captain Sachin Tendulkar.
The New Zealander sent back Aditya Tare (1) and Shikhar Dhawan (10) in successive overs, reducing the opponents to 14 for two after they opted to bat.
Thereafter, Tiwary in company of JP Duminy began the repair work although it was difficult to score against Kartik and David Hussey.
From 29 for two in five overs, the left-handed duo added 40 runs in next five overs as Mumbai looked reached 69 for two at the half-way mark.
Young paceman Jaidev Unadkat broke the 63-run third wicket partnership when the left-armer castled Duminy (19) with Mumbai's score reading 77 for three in 12.5 overs.
Tiwary followed suit two balls later, becoming Murali Kartik's first victim as the youngster was caught by Brendon McCullum in the mid-wicket.
Tiwary's knock had four fours and a six off rival skipper Sourav Ganguly and showed that he has the ability to adapt to conditions.
Wickets fell in quick succession after that with stand-in skipper Dwayne Bravo (5) also failing with the bat and it was Rayudu, who played a handy knock before running himself out to gave Mumbai bowlers something to fight for.
‘Foreign players forced to play’
The Professional Cricketers' Association is investigating claims that players were pressured to go ahead with Saturday's Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians despite a bomb blast outside the stadium in Bangalore.
The blast injured at least 14 people. A second bomb exploded close to the Chinnaswamy Stadium and two further unexploded devices were found on Sunday.
The PCA still wants more details about the circumstances that led to Saturday's match being played after one of the non-Indian players involved claimed the decision was left to the players.
“The immediate worry for us, and I have heard this direct from one of the players, is that after the initial explosion and a sweep of the stadium, the decision that the game should go ahead was taken by the players," said Ian Smith, the PCA's legal adviser.
"From what I have been told, the Indian guys said very quickly that they felt unfazed. But the foreign guys then felt under pressure to agree with their colleagues. The idea that you can determine whether conditions are safe by a referendum of the players is outrageous,” he added.
Smith has been unable to speak to any of the six English players – Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Owais Shah, Michael Lumb, Pietersen and Ravi Bopara – who are involved in the IPL.
But he has had email communication with them and advised them to await a full report from IPL security experts Nicholls Steyn Associates and Reg Dickason, security adviser to the Federation of International Cricketers'' Associations.
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said the decision to relocate the semi-finals was taken reluctantly.
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