Modi may be ousted if he skips meeting: Pataudi

Former cricketer and IPL Governing Council member, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi on Wednesday said Lalit Modi may be ousted from his post if he keeps away from the Monday meeting.

He also told Modi that he should step down if he has so much conviction in his innocence.

"If Mr Modi doesn't come for the meeting, I suspect the BCCI will take a very strict view of this. But Lalit is also playing very hard, I am not sure what he is upto.

"Unless Modi comes and says in the meeting that he has been working 20 hours a day for the last six weeks and need 3-4 days time to prepare his answer, his outser is certain. But if he does that, the Board may give him time," he told television channels.

Pataudi said Modi, facing charges of financial irregularity, proxy investment and nepotism, is toeing the wrong line by deciding to shun the April 26 Governing Council meeting.

Asked if Modi should step aside in the best interest of IPL, Pataudi said, "Yes. I think so. Let these allegations and accusations come to some kind of conclusion and let's see because he's kept on saying ...for the last few weeks that he's done nothing wrong. So fine, if he has done nothing wrong, let them take it out."

Pataudi, however, found nothing wrong with Modi's relatives having stakes in IPL teams since BCCI secretary N Srinivasan, who heads Indian Cements, was allowed to successfully bid for the Chennai franchise.

Pataudi said what mattered was whether Modi, like Srinivasan, had taken BCCI into confidence on the matter or not.

"Let's put it this way, there are certain issues which were settled even before the first IPL met, the Governing Council met. And that was that the board gave permission for a BCCI office bearer to own a team," he said.

"If a BCCI office bearer can own a team then I think why cannot Mr Modi's relations also? Question is did he ask permission of the BCCI? That I don't know," said the former India captain.