Tribunal overturns case for Lalit Modi in IPL FEMA case

A tribunal has overturned key penalties against former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi in a long-running case concerning the 2009 cricket tournament's relocation to South Africa. The Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Forfeiture of Property Act (SAFEMA) set aside a 2018 Enforcement Directorate order that had penalized Modi and others for alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The case stemmed from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's transfer of funds to South Africa to organize the IPL's second season, which was moved from India due to security concerns coinciding with the nation's general elections. The central allegation involved a remittance of approximately $49.86 million (over 243 crore rupees) to an overseas entity without prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

In a 105-page judgment dated July 16, a division bench comprising Chairman Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Member Rajesh Malhotra ruled there was no material establishing Modi's responsibility for the alleged violations. The tribunal stated that Modi was not in charge of the affairs and had been "framed in the case without...