'I'm not running at all, Indian Government has long arm': Lalit Modi rejects 'fugitive' label

London [UK], June 4 (HBTV): Former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chairman Lalit Modi has strongly rejected the 'fugitive' label attached to him, stating that he has never been convicted of any crime.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Modi dismissed claims that he is evading Indian authorities, attributing the narrative to media sensationalism rather than legal reality. He argued that hiding from a country like India while travelling internationally would be impossible.

'I'm not running at all. I'm going all over the world. If I was running, you would be picking me up somewhere or the other. The Indian government has a long arm... You can't take on the government of India. And I don't intend to. It's not the government. It's the media,' he said.

Modi also criticised the lack of strict defamation laws in India, claiming that it enables media trials. 'You have no libel in your country, in our country. You can say what you want and I sell news,' he said.

Addressing the legal proceedings involving the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Modi said there has been no concrete legal resolution in the cases against him.

While he faces allegations of bid-rigging, money laundering and violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) linked to his departure from India in 2010, Modi maintained that no criminal charges have been proven against him.

He criticised the pace of the Indian judicial system, describing delayed justice as a form of punishment. 'It never gets heard in our country. Justice comes. I don't know when it comes. The slow justice is a punishment as well. Not a single case against me has been registered. If I have been so bad, and everybody says I've been so bad, OK, please, guys, go out and prosecute me,' he said.

When asked whether he intended to return to India to clear his name, Modi said that his priorities had changed and that he no longer felt the need to prove anything.

'There was a time when I did want to come back. And I had all the reasons to come back. Come back and do what?... I don't need to prove to anybody,' he said.

He also questioned the basis for any possible arrest. 'Arrest you want to do, you have to take me to court. Seventeen years you haven't taken me to court. How can you arrest me today? If there was something there, it would be out,' Modi said.

Despite his assertions, Indian regulatory agencies continue to pursue investigations related to alleged financial misconduct, money laundering and unauthorised fund transfers during his tenure with the IPL. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is also pursuing extradition procedures under Indian and international legal frameworks.

(ANI)