BCCI Not Given Fee For IPL Share Transfers
The Cricket Board was yet to receive its due share of five per cent as transaction fee for transfer of shares by IPL franchisees Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, BCCI chief Shashank Manohar said
The Cricket Board was yet to receive its due share of five per cent as transaction fee for transfer of shares by IPL franchisees Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, BCCI chief Shashank Manohar said on Monday in Mumbai.
Manohar said that Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra, who were sold 12.5 per cent of Rajasthan Royals franchise stakes by the original owners -- Emerging Media of United Kingdom, are not named as share holders in the documents available with the Board.
The Board was also awaiting a similar fee from the Kings XI Punjab franchisees as Bollywood star Preity Zinta, a current stakeholder, was not holding a single share when the bid for the Mohali franchise was successfully made by her and subsequently got some shares in the team, Manohar said at a press conference here.
In both these cases neither the permission of the IPL Governing Council was taken as required nor was the BCCI paid its due share of five per cent transaction fee, Manohar said.
"There was a company based in UK by the name of Emerging Media IPL. The company was owned by a single individual Manoj Badale. The company started four months earlier to the bid. His bid was accepted. However the agreement is signed with Jaipur IPL," the Board chief explained.
Manohar also said that the agreement was signed by two other persons who were not part of the original bid.
"There is an interesting fact to be noted; this is a company wherein there were only two stakeholders at the time the agreement was signed. The two stakeholders were one Mr (Fraser) Castellino and Bal Thakur.
"Now the bid is given by A, the document signed by B, who had nothing to do with the bid. Then separate companies have come in who are registered in Mauritius," he said.
Manohar said none of the other IPL Governing Council members were aware of these things.
"Mr Modi made a statement that the entire world knows (who the stakeholders) of these franchises are. But even the members of the Governing Council were unaware of it.
"In the Rajasthan Royal franchise, the Jaipur IPL is the main company. Their shares are then sold and transferred to certain individuals and companies like Tresco and Blue Waters. Nobody knows what is Blue Waters and what is Tresco.
"Now, I did not find in the shareholders' register the names of Mr Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty, who claim to be the stakeholders."
About the KXIP shares owned by Preity Zinta, Manohar said that the Bollywood star bid successfully for Mohali as a sole bidder with the promise she would form a consortium but when the agreement was signed she did not have a single share in the franchisee.
"When the bids were given, it was signed only by Preity Zinta. She said she will form a consortium with three people Mohit Burman, one Mr (Karan) Paul and one other name. When the franchise agreement was signed by her she did not have a single share in that company. The shares were transferred to her after signing of the agreement," the Board president said.
"Then Mr Gaurav Burman gets in and the rest. Again the same logic applied; you need to have the consent of the IPL and the fee. But nothing once again happened," he said.
Manohar, giving details of the transaction fee that the Board is entitled, wondered how such irregularities were allowed to happen.
"And there is a clause in the agreement which is entered into with all the franchises that in case you transfer your shares, the transfer has to be made with the permission of the IPL and the board is entitled to have five percent of the amount of the transaction as their fees.
"Now nothing of this has happened. So we are asking an explanation if A gives the bid how do you sign agreement with B? How does all these people get into this? None of us are aware and we don't know who owns these companies," he reiterated. PTI