Lalit Modi tried to influence judicial process against Srinivasan, alleges letter

In a new twist to former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi's leaked mails saga, former BCCI chief N Srinivasan's alleged close associate wrote a letter to the government on February 11.

The alleged close aide of the ousted former BCCI chief claimed in the letter that Lalit Modi tried to influence the judicial process.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, the Union Law Ministry forwarded the letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in May.

CNN-IBN accessed the letter sent by complainant Neeraj Gunde, who alleged a nexus between Lalit Modi, former IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal and former Mumbai Police commissioner Arup Patnaik.

Gunde alleged that the former IPL commissioner brokered a deal with Biswal and Patnaik and tried to influence the judicial process related to a case against his rival and then BCCI chief N Srinivasan.

He claims to have accessed emails allegedly sent by Lalit Modi.

This comes a day after pictures of Mumbai Police chief Rakesh Maria with Lalit Modi in London appeared.

Maria met Lalit Modi in July last year in London when he was there to attend a conference. Maria has told sources that Modi's lawyers contacted him and told him that Modi was receiving threats from the underworld.

According to Maria, the conversation lasted for 10 to 15 minutes by the end of which Maria had asked Modi to come to Mumbai and file a complaint. Maria reportedly filed a confidential report to the Director General of Police (DGP) as well as the Home Department keeping them in the loop.

The Enforcement Directorate is in the process of serving final penalty notices in 16 alleged forex violation cases amounting to an estimated Rs 1,700 crore against former IPL chairman and others as part of its wide-ranging probe in the alleged financial irregularities in various editions of the T-20 cricket extravaganza.

High-level Enforcement Directorate sources said apart from these cases, two other instances of suspected contravention of foreign exchange laws and hawala transactions are also being investigated by the central probe agency and these include investigations on the role of Modi.

Investigation in a third case of money laundering against the former cricket czar, sources said, is also "underway" which is related to the alleged misappropriation of funds in allotment of cricket media rights by BCCI in 2009.