Bombay High Court rejects Modi's plea

Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's troubles have deepened after the Bombay High Court rejected his plea for the recusal of his successor Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley from the disciplinary committee investigating charges against him. Modi had sought the removal of Amin and Jaitley from the committee on grounds that they were biased against him.

Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer, said the court order would allow the disciplinary committee - scheduled to meet later on Wednesday - to proceed as planned. "There are witnesses on the list prepared by the committee and we will go ahead with that list."

Modi's lawyer Mehmood Abdi said he would consider filing a special leave petition against the order. He was also unhappy that the board did not accept his request to defer the hearing to a later date. "What's the hurry? It's humanly impossible to reach there (committee member Jyotiraditya Scindia's house by 2pm, about an hour and a half after the court's ruling)," he said. "The list of witnesses was given and it was clear who will depose first. It was to start with Sundar Raman but now they say the foreigners would be examined first.

"How can you examine all witnesses in three-four hours? What was the need to bring all of them [foreigners] together? This is unprecedented haste, speaks volumes for itself."

The committee has until October 26 to submit its recommendations to the board. The BCCI suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 in April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a rebel league in England.