Want to give up Indian passport, I have Vanuatu citizenship: Lalit Modi
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said on Friday: “Lalit Modi has made an application for surrendering his passport in the High Commission of India, London. The same will be examined in light of extant rules and procedures.”
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Modi, the former IPL chairman and its chief architect, has been under probe by various agencies in connection with forex violations and a Rs 425-crore TV rights deal for the 2009 IPL with World Sports Group. (File Photo)Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who has been described as an economic offender by Indian investigating agencies, wants to surrender his Indian passport. He has also acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, a country of islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said Friday: “Lalit Modi has made an application for surrendering his passport in the High Commission of India, London. The same will be examined in light of extant rules and procedures.”
“We are also given to understand that he has acquired citizenship of Vanuatu. We continue to pursue the case against him as required under law,” he said.
Modi, the former IPL chairman and its chief architect, has been under probe by various agencies in connection with forex violations and a Rs 425-crore TV rights deal for the 2009 IPL with World Sports Group.
After attending just one interrogation session with Income Tax and ED sleuths in Mumbai regarding matters related to forex violations, he fled to the UK in May 2010.
In 2008, Modi was the face behind IPL’s inception, a league that mixed glamour with T20 format of cricket, and a league that would become the behemoth that it is today in world sports. In 2009, when IPL had to be shifted to South Africa following general elections in India, Modi proved how the value of the product would hold big value even outside India.
Shortly after the IPL 2010 final, Modi was suspended from BCCI after being accused of misconduct, indiscipline and financial irregularities in association with the two rigging bids over the two new franchises, Pune and Kochi. The BCCI launched an investigation against him, and banned him for life in 2013 after a committee found him guilty of these charges.
He has since lived out of London and given several interviews claiming innocence on all charges raised by the BCCI. A special court in Mumbai had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Lalit Modi in 2015 for his alleged involvement in a money-laundering case registered by the ED.
Vanuatu, a string of more than 80 islands in the southern Pacific Ocean, has a population of about 3 lakh people. It achieved independence from France and Britain in 1980. Vanuatu offers citizenship through its Citizenship by Investment programme, requiring a non-refundable donation or investment. According to the Capital Investment Immigration Plan, for single applicants, the amount is USD 155,000 (Rs 1.3 crore), making it one of the cheapest options to acquire citizenship.
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