New Delhi:
Former Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Lalit Modi took to twitter ‘big time’ after the Delhi High Court ordered the restoration of his passport as he thanked the people who stood by him in his need of hour.
“I want to thank u from the bottom of my heart for standing by me. Some of u had doubts. But today I stand vindicated. It’s been a long tough path for me and my family. The 4 years 3 months and 14 days it’s taken me to clear my name has not been easy...,” tweeted Modi.
A landmark judgement passed by the division bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Badar Durrez Ahmed and Vibhu Bakhru, today set aside all orders against Modi and restored his passport.
Importantly, the ruling also set aside all the previous orders, including those of FEMA violations, on Modi the founder and chief architect of the IPL and the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association.
This paves the way for his return home to India.
“.. I lived daily by my mantra “this too shall pass”. I am grateful to the honourable judges of the High Court for providing today this landmark judgement...”, Modi wrote on his twitter handle.
Restoring his passport, the bench said the materials taken into consideration while revoking his passport were “extraneous and irrelevant”.
Further, the bench said the order revoking Modi’s passport was invalid as it was in violation of Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) and (g) (practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business) of the Constitution.
The bench also said there is a specific procedure and statutory provisions for default or non-compliance of summonses under FEMA and revocation of his passport for such default on the ground that it was in the interest of general public “was not lawful”.
Modi, who was charged for alleged irregularities in IPL funds, was deposed in 2010 and later had to fly off to England to evade arrest after BCCI framed cases against the then boards’ vice-president. Modi though refused to talk about it at present.
“I will not be giving any interviews on this subject - just a release and would like the news community to respect that - as today I want to just be with my family and close friends and thank them for helping me get thru this most difficult journey a man was made to go thru...,” he further tweeted.
