Maken for probe into charges of black money in IPL

Amid charges of black money playing a part in the IPL, Sports Ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to order an expeditious probe into it.

Sports Minister Ajay Maken told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Sports Secretary has written a letter last week in this regard to the Revenue Secretary and has sought the inquiry to be conducted in an expeditious manner by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax Department.

Maken also said that 19 notices have been issued to IPL and BCCI for FEMA violations to the tune of Rs 1,077 crore and Sports Ministry Joint Secretary has also written a letter to the ED on May 17 seeking expeditious probe into the matter.

The Sports Minister was responding to an issue raised by former cricketer Kirti Azad of BJP, who made a strong pitch for a special audit by independent people into the conduct of the BCCI and other concerned sports organisations which were registered.

Maken also made a strong pitch for bringing the BCCI under Right to Information, saying the Central Information Commission was hearing the issue.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is Leader of the Lok Sabha, was present when the issue was raised and Azad, a former cricketer who sat on hunger strike on Sunday, got support from the BJP benches as also JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and some Left members.

Azad, who has been vocal in the matter and has been raising the issue of black money in IPL, did not appear to be satisfied by the Sports Minister's announcement as he said that until and unless a special audit is conducted, it would not yield any result.