Overview
- An Appellate Tribunal under SAFEMA issued a 105-page order on July 16 that set aside most Enforcement Directorate findings in the 2009 IPL South Africa FEMA matter.
- The tribunal ruled the disputed transfers were current-account transactions rather than capital-account transactions, rejecting the ED's central legal theory for penalties.
- The bench found no material to hold Lalit Modi responsible for BCCI's FEMA compliance and quashed the penalty orders against him in the principal proceedings.
- The tribunal upheld limited findings against the BCCI, reducing a delayed-repatriation penalty from Rs 4 crore to Rs 1 crore and sustaining a penalty for remittance discrepancies.
- Modi, who has lived abroad since 2010, welcomed the ruling as vindication and said he plans to visit or return to India by late 2026 or early 2027, a shift that could close a 16-year legal chapter and affect future FEMA enforcement for sports events.