NEW DELHI: India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao threatened to cancel former IPL chief Lalit Modi's passport if he doesn't respond to corruption charges by next Thursday. Modi has been suspended since April by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which has been investigating bribery allegations in the 2008 auction for new teams in the Indian Premier League. Modi has been living mainly outside India since the controversy began, and to force his return home to cooperate with the investigation, the BCCI approached the External Affairs Ministry to cancel his passport. Rao said Friday a notice was sent to Modi on Oct. 13 and if he fails to respond by Oct. 28, his passport will be revoked by the ministry. She said her ministry received a request this month from the Directorate of Enforcement asking it to revoke Modi's passport “in the public interest and in the interest of a thorough investigation of alleged irregularities he has committed.” Last week, the BCCI filed a criminal complaint to the Chennai Police against Modi, accusing him of “misappropriation of funds to the tune of 4.7 billion rupees ($104 million),” according to the Press Trust of India. BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in the complaint that it also has concerns over irregularities in the bidding process for certain franchises in the IPL. The BCCI terminated the contracts of IPL teams the Rajasthan Royals, the inaugural 2008 champions, and Kings XI Punjab last week. However, BCCI President Shashank Manohar said the elimination of the Jaipur-based Royals and Kings XI Punjab, which had Australia paceman Brett Lee and Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara under contract, had nothing to do with Modi. The decision to eliminate the two teams was taken following breaches in their ownership patterns. Modi has denied any wrongdoing in the bidding process, and says his running of the highly successful IPL was completely transparent.
