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IPL founder and former chairman Lalit Modi has said that he is ready to come back to India as he got relief from the Appellate Tribunal in the 2009 Indian Premier League South Africa Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case.
In a statement, Lalit Modi said, “I’m really happy with the verdict yesterday. It’s really been a great day. 16 years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth. I’m really happy that the tribunal has ruled in my favour. I was only concerned with the well-being of the IPL and nothing and nothing at all. That is the most dear to me.
The Appellate Tribunal set aside Enforcement Directorate findings against IPL founder Lalit Modi concerning the 2009 IPL South Africa FEMA case, enabling his potential return to India after 16 years.
Now that chapter is behind me, I’m going to move on in my life and I’m looking forward to coming back to India. I will come back probably end of this year or early next year. My daughter is due with my grandson in October and hopefully everything will be well and I’ll be back in India.”
The Appellate Tribunal under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators – Forfeiture of Property – Act (SAFEMA) has given major relief to Lalit Modi and other appellants by setting aside most of the ED’s findings and penalties in the 2009 IPL South Africa FEMA case, according to ANI.
Lalit Modi has been living outside India since 2010.
#WATCH | IPL founder and first chairman Lalit Modi to return to India.
He says, “Im really happy with the verdict yesterday. Its really been a great day. 16 years I have fought and whatever I have been saying to the media and to everybody has finally emerged as the truth. Im… pic.twitter.com/QTN7VkzuEy
— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2026
quasi-judicial tribunal has ruled that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) failed to produce any material evidence establishing former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi’s liability for alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations in the principal proceedings. The order was pronounced on July 16.
The case originates from 2009, when the IPL was relocated to South Africa due to a scheduling clash with India’s general elections. The ED subsequently initiated proceedings against Modi, contending that the foreign exchange remittances used to stage the tournament abroad required prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Welcoming the verdict, Modi said the tribunal had overturned the foundational premise of the ED’s case against him. In a statement, he noted that the court held the principal remittances for IPL 2009 to be current account transactions rather than capital account transactions-a distinction that effectively invalidated the earlier findings against him.
