New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the complaints of money laundering against Indian Premier league (IPl), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Rajya Sabha Monday.
Speaking during question hour, Mukherjee said: "There are certain irregularities which are being looked into, particularly relating to some complaints received that there are foreign investments in IPl."
"Those are being looked into by the Enforcement Directorate because those are the criminal activities like money laundering," he said.
Mukherjee said the IPl is a body of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and till 2006, the BCCI enjoyed income tax exemptions.
He said the BCCI lost exemption registration in 2006 following the verdict of the Allahabad High Court and since then, it is subject to tax.
"Tax demands were raised for the assessment years 2007-08 and 2008-09 amounting to Rs.118 crore and Rs.257 crore respectively. As much as Rs.249 crore has already been recovered from the BCCI," he said.
The matter was also raised in the lok Sabha and replying to queries, Sports Minister Ajay Maken said that the ministry has written to the ED to look into the money laundering and take stringent action against defaulters.
"ED has so far issued 19 notices to IPl and BCCI under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)," said Maken.
The sport minister also supported bringing the BCCI within the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
"We want BCCI to be brought under RTI and have raised the matter before the Central Information Commission (CIC) and the hearing is on," he added.
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