Shahrukh Khan, the co-owner though as per the Income Tax Dept isnt a major stake holder of the Kolkata Knight Riders termed the controversy as noisy. “IPL controversy: fast, furious and too much noise. Like the Twenty20 itself. Hope it gets resolved as fast too for our friend Lalit and franchises,” Shah Rukh wrote on his twitter page.
Shilpa Shetty, who co-owns Rajasthan Royals, was more aggressive in her tweet recently. “Full and fair investigation of IPL will compel loud -mouths to shut up by realising true value of sixth largest sporting event in the world,” Shilpa wrote in her reply to Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise owner Vijay Mallya.
The controversy began when IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi revealed the shareholding pattern of the new Kochi franchise on twitter, breaching the confidentiality clause of the contract with the owners.
The first casualty of the controversy was Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor as he was alleged to have helped his friend Sunanda Pushkar in getting 70 crore sweat equity in Kochi franchise.
Modi himself is staring exit from the tournament because of his style of functioning. There are allegations Modi has hidden stakes in many franchises. The Income Tax department and the Enforcement Directorate are probing into the funding of the tournament and have launched a survey, visiting most of the franchise offices across the nation to check details and documents.
The BCCI has already said that it will not hesitate to take harsh decisions to protect its image. The board has been in damage control mode ever since the controversy began and there were indications that the BCCI would remove Modi from his post at the IPL Governing Council meeting on April 26.
