Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi on Wednesday said he was “really looking forward” to returning to India after an appellate tribunal overturned key findings and penalties imposed on him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case related to the 2009 IPL held in South Africa.
I’m really looking forward to returning to India after an extended very long time. Stay well and stay protected 🙏🏽 https://t.co/29AaVrxF6V
— Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) July 22, 2026
An appellate tribunal in Recent Delhi has overturned an Enforcement Directorate (ED) penalty order against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and a number of other others in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case linked to the staging of the 2009 IPL in South Africa.
The tribunal, operating under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEMA), partly allowed the appeals against the ED special director’s order dated May 31, 2018. It put aside the agency’s findings and the penalties imposed for alleged FEMA violations.
Lalit Modi Gets Relief as Tribunal Rejects ED’s Core Argument
Rejecting the ED’s primary argument regarding the character of the financial transactions on the centre of the case, the tribunal observed:
“We have now considered the submissions… and find that if, in a given case, the payment towards the service was made every so often and that too without budgeting, then, in accordance with the respondent (ED), it might fall within the definition of ‘Capital Account Transaction’. We’re unable to just accept the argument advanced by the respondent (ED).”
The 2009 season of the IPL was shifted to South Africa because of the overall elections in India. Reacting to the tribunal’s ruling on Tuesday, Lalit Modi said:
“The Tribunal has rejected the central premise on which the ED’s case against me had been built… This marks the conclusion of what has been the one most vital legal matter arising from the 2009 South Africa IPL.”
Lalit Modi has been living overseas for greater than a decade while facing multiple investigations into alleged financial irregularities during his tenure as IPL chairman. A day after the tribunal’s ruling, his latest statement indicated that he might be preparing to return to India after spending years abroad.
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