"Everybody should respect the institution as a whole, that was our only concern," and with that statement, the Supreme Court on Monday, put a closing seal on the contempt proceedings against Lalit Modi after the ex-IPL commissioner tendered an unconditional apology for his remarks against the Indian judiciary on social media posts.
The bench comprising of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar took note of the affidavit filed by Modi in which he states to not doing any such thing in future, "which in inconsistent with the majesty or dignity of Courts or Indian judiciary in any manner."
The court accepted Modi's unconditional apology and said, "We accept the unconditional apology. We remind the respondent that any such attempt on his part in future, which would tantamount to remotely tarnishing the image of Indian judiciary and courts, will be seen very seriously."
Emphasizing that nobody is above the law, the bench further said, "...the court always believes in forgiveness more particularly when an apology is tendered unconditional and from the bottom of the heart. Accepting the apology, we close the present proceedings." On April 13, the Apex Court had agreed to Modi's suggestion that he tender an apology through social media and in leading newspapers.
SC sent a notice seeking Modi's response after a petition was filed against him in a contempt case by bar member CU Singh against two tweets made by Modi on March 30 that tarnished the image of judiciary.
In his statement, Lalit Modi said, "I hereby tender this unconditional public apology for my social media post, dated January 13, 2023, and my tweet dated March 30, 2023. I reiterate that I have the highest regard for the Indian Judicial System and the majesty of the Courts, and I will not do anything which is inconsistent with the majesty or dignity of the Courts or the Indian Judiciary, in any manner."
On January 13, in an Instagram post, Lalit Modi had alleged that cases are 'fixed' in the judiciary. The Court agreed to an apology being issued by Modi ahead of the contempt petition hearing against him on April 24.
When apology does not mean closure
While Modi may have managed to close the contempt proceedings against him, will the apology have any bearing on the other cases pending in the courts? Considering more than a legal battles being fought by him are those of financial irregularities, money laundering and criminal proceedings, not really.
Last year, the ex-IPL chief again hit the headlines when he faced a USD 7 million high court case in England involving allegations of misrepresentation made by a former Indian model Gurpreet Gill Maag, wherein she alleged that Modi fleeced her into investing USD 2 million in a cancer treatment venture called Ion Care. She alleged that he falsely named prominent persons, including those from the Royal family, among patrons of the venture. However, he was later cleared in the cheating case.
Modi, who has been living in London for more than a decade, left India shortly after Enforcement Directorate began probing him in 2009 over investigations under the FEMA Act. Among the charges initiated against him include that payment of Rs 425 crore facilitation fees by MSM Singapore to World Sports Group (WSG) Mauritius was made in an unauthorised manner.
The banned IPL co-founder has had several noticed issued against him by ED. One such notice to Modi, Shashank Manohar and other BCCI officials has been for the payment of Rs 243 crore made by BCCI to Cricket South Africa for IPL 2009.
ED is also probing him on allegations over bidding of IPL in 2008. Modi is said to have told selective bidders how much to bid and win during the first ever IPL team auctions in 2008.
In February 2020, the Ministry of External Affairs in Parliament while replying to a question on Indians who have escaped abroad, said, "Efforts are being made proactively for securing the presence of these accused in the country by way of issuance of LOC (look out circular), red corner notice (RCN) and extradition requests. Lalit Modi is among 72 Indians facing charges of money laundering, cheating, fraud and financial irregularities.
