Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has sought a report from Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria over his meeting with controversial former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi.
The information has been sought by the Maharashtra Chief Minister after reports surfaced that Mumbai Police chief Rakesh Maria met Lalit Modi in July 2014 in London.
Maria has said that he will submit a report on the case soon.
“We have asked Rakesh Maria to give information officially to the government on what he has said in the media. Based on his information, we will decide further course of action,” said Fadnavis.
Asked if a time frame has been laid down for Maria to give the information, the CM said he has been given a day’s time. On whether Maria will be asked to step down temporarily until the inquiry against him is conducted, Fadnavis said, “First let the information come to us.”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said that repeated requests from Lalit Modi cannot be an “excuse” to meet him and an inquiry will be conducted into what “compelled” Maria to meet Modi. “As far as what we know till now, on his repeated insistence, Maria met Lalit Modi in London. Now we will have to go through records and examine that what compelled Maria to meet him despite knowing there is so much criticism surrounding him. Insistence cannot be an excuse,” Patil said.
Asked if there could be a political reason behind Maria’s meet with Modi, since the Police Commissioner in his letter to the media stated that he had informed the then state Home Minister about his meet, Patil said, “It is on record that Maria informed the then Home Minister about his meet. May be the Home Minister got convinced of his reasons.
“The only ambiguity here is that if your conscience is clear, if it is not a part of your duty and if the code of conduct does not allow you to, you do not meet someone like Modi even if he is insisting you to meet. This is what needs to be examined,” the minister said.
Maria had said that Modi’s lawyers contacted him and told him that he was receiving threats from the underworld.
According to Maria, he Modi to come to Mumbai and file a complaint. Maria reportedly filed a confidential report to the DGP as well as the Home Department after returning to India.
Meanwhile, 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.
