July 21, 2011

Every now and then, I read of a case of graft – that some official has been arrested red handed while taking a bribe.
Usually, such cases are followed up by searches at the residence(s) and other connected places of the official, leading to recovery of unaccounted wealth.
Invariably, in such cases, apart from the allegation of accepting bribe, the concerned Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) also files a case quantifying unaccounted assets worth crores of rupees ( 1 crore = 10 million).

Even in the extreme case, where no unaccounted assets are found, I would believe that cases where an official is caught red handed should be the easiest to prove in our courts.

But unfortunately, most cases end up in acquittals !

Agriculture Director of Maharashtra arrested

Prakash Wamanrao Mahindre, then Agriculture Director of Maharashtra, was arrested in 2005 for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from Rajkumar Bhanudas Dhargude, a businessman.

According to the complaint filed by Dhargude, Mahindre had demanded bribe of Rs 2 lakh each for issuing three new licences and renewing another four.

The ACB, Pune conducted a search at Mahindre’s residence at Central Park Apartment on Ambedkar Road and recovered cash and ornaments totalling
Rs 4,97,44,957.
They arrested Mahindre for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Finally, the ACB, Pune registered a case of amassing wealth against Mahindre and his wife Priya under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. They quantified his assets at Rs 3.02 crores.

Mahindre was suspended from the service in 2005. During the suspension period, he retired from service.

Acquittal

Defence lawyer Sudhir Shah argued that the jute bag containing Rs 50,000, which was recovered from Mahindre’s cabin at Central Building, was planted there.
The Special court of S N Sardesai in Pune acquitted Prakash Wamanrao Mahindre.

What is not understandable is the way the case was investigated and presented and what happened to the other charge of amassing wealth.

Obviously, the search team had not done its home work. May be, with today’s, modern equipments, proving a case would be easier.

And acquittal will not be that easy.

The Silver Lining

The silver lining in such cases is that the culprit is suspended, the case drags on for years, and apart from the fact that the culprit does not receive his full salary, perks, and promotion, he has to spend a lot of money on his lawyers which itself is a sort of punishment.

There can be no doubt that Lalit Modi (born November 29, 1963), Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League (IPL), created the IPL in 2008.
There can be no doubt that Lalit Modi took IPL to its dazzling, dizzy heights.

There can be no doubt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and many, many people minted money, directly or indirectly, through the IPL.

Lalit Modi has been unceremoniously ousted from the IPL.
In the legalistic jargon, he has been suspended from the post of Chairman and Commissioner of the IPL and from all committees and sub committees of the BCCI.
A show cause notice has been issued to him.
He will have to submit his explanation.
And the BCCI will take a decision in due course.

Is Lalit Modi alone to blame ?

Let us presume for a moment that Lalit Modi is guilty of all the charges,
of numerous irregularities, and a host of deed or misdeeds.

He was heading the IPL as a functionary under the broader control of BCCI.
What were the members of the Governing body of BCCI doing all these
years?
Why did not even one of them enquire about the financial transactions, about the various agreements and payments.
Why did the auditors of BCCI not verify the huge transactions with reference to the different agreements.
Did the auditors ever point out a single irregularity in their audit reports?
Probably every one was content with the free tickets and other freebies.

Lalit Modi, IPL and the future

What is the future of Lalit Modi and IPL?
Personally, I feel Lalit Modi is in a mess.
He has bitten more than he can chew.
He will find it difficult to wriggle out of the strangle hold.
Even he is lucky, he would have to remain out of cricket for several years.

In my view, Lalit Modi had grown larger than the institution he had build.
He equated himself with the IPL.
He thought he was the IPL.
Or he thought he owned the IPL.

IPL is an institution.
All institutions survive their founders.
IPL will survive after Lalit Modi.

Dr. Verghese Kurien

I am reminded of Dr. Verghese Kurien who literally built Amul.
He ushered the milk revolution into India.
He made India from a milk deficient country to one of the largest milk producing countries in the world.

He received due recognition and several honours in India and all over the world including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (1963), Padma Shri (1965), Padma Bhushan (1966), Krishi Ratna Award (1986), Wateler Peace Prize Award of Carnegie Foundation (1986), World Food Prize Laureate (1989), International Person of the Year(1993) by the World Dairy Expo, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, and Padma Vibhushan (1999).

Dr. Verghese Kurien resigned from Chairmanship of the Gujarat Milk Marketing federation (GCMMF) on March 20, 2006.  
The real reason is that eleven out of the 12 chairmen of district dairies (who constitute the GCMMF board) had moved a no-confidence motion (slated to come up in a March 24 meeting) against him.
Rather than face the humiliation, Kurien resigned.

Kurien has left Amul.
But Amul survives because it a strong institution.

Lalit Modi and the future

There is no doubt that Lalit Modi has proved himself a marketing wizard.
He will go back and head the Rs 3,500-crore Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), the makers of Marlboro, Four Square and Red & White cigarettes.

And may be he will prove even more successful in his business endeavours.