“I say with full conviction that my husband or my family has nothing to do with these issues (the IPL bids)...We always stay miles away from it. Yes, we are avid cricket watchers, my husband, my kids, my family, all, and that’s where the buck stops.” — Sharad Pawar ’s daughter, Supriya Sule, April 20, 2010

“These (charges) are all a media creation. Explain the allegations to me and I will definitely reply... My conscience is clear” — Sharad Pawar to TOI on April 28, when asked if he was involved in one of the failed franchise bids

“There is no involvement of any member of the family of former BCCI president Sharad Pawar. The bid documents have been seen by the income-tax department’s officials.” — BCCI chief Shashank Manohar, April 26, 2010

Truth is, Sharad Pawar and his immediate family hold over 16% equity in one of the bidders for an IPL cricket team . Documents available with TOI show that the Pawars own 33.6 lakh shares (out of 2.07 crore shares) in City Corporation, a Pune-based construction company which bid Rs 1,176 crore for a franchise in March.

The Pawar family’s shares are held through two companies, Lap Finance and Consultancy Pvt Ltd and Namratta Film Enterprises Pvt Ltd, which are 100% owned by the NCP supremo and Union agriculture minister, his wife Pratibha and daughter Supriya Sule, also an MP.

When contacted by TOI, Sule said, “It is in his personal capacity that Mr (Anirudhha) Deshpande (MD of City Corp) bid. It had nothing to do with the company. The company board had passed a resolution saying it would have nothing to do with the bid. Nobody supported it. The board meeting was on March 17, and the resolution was probably passed on March 19.”

The second round of IPL bids ended on March 21, when the franchisees for Pune and Kochi were announced in Chennai. City Corp was eventually outgunned by Sahara’s Rs 1,702-crore winning offer.

When it was pointed out that despite the “board resolution”, the bid was in the name of City Corp, Sule said it was for Deshpande to explain. “After all, I am a minority stakeholder,” she added.

Deshpande acknowledged to TOI that the bid document was bought and submitted in the name of City Corp. But he claimed the "bid was done in my personal capacity". He said, "The tender was bought in the name of City Corp. Subsequently, the board did not agree to the bid, but permitted me to use the company’s name for bidding purposes."

If City Corp had won the bid it would have been executed by a "different consortium, comprising Akruti (a Mumbai construction firm), Maharashtra Cricket Association, etc," he said. So far, no state cricket association has bid for a team.

Asked about this, Deshpande promised to produce documentary proof to back his claims. TOI, which has been in touch with him over telephone since May 27, is yet to receive these documents. Apart from talking to him, mobile text messages were also sent to him.

Asked about the Pawar family connection with City Corp, Deshpande said he was not sure if they had any shares. “They are not involved. I am the managing director. There is no control,” he said.

Documents accessed from the ministry of corporate affairs’ database on May 30 reveal the Pawar family has a not-inconsiderable 16.22% in City Corp. Also, all shares in the company are in the name of just 10 persons/entities, including Deshpande and his wife Sona — and the Pawar-owned Lap Finance and Namratta. Of the 33.6 lakh shares the Pawars hold in City Corp, 25.6 lakh are through Lap and 8 lakh through Namratta.

Central agencies aware of Pawar’s IPL bid link

City Corp, the fifth bidder for the second round of IPL franchises, has so far succeeded in avoiding the spotlight, which has been focused on Sahara and Rendezvous, winners of the Pune and Kochi franchises respectively, and the two losers, the Dhoots of Videocon and the Adanis.

It is learnt that central investigation agencies are in possession of this evidence, which appears to undermine the assertion that the Pawars were in no way connected to the IPL.

The details of the Pawars’ complete control of Lap and Namratta are contained in the documents filed by the companies with the ministry of corporate affairs as of May 30, 2010. Also, Pawar, in his affidavit filed before the returning officer of Madha Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in the 2009 elections, had declared his association with Lap and Namratta. The affidavit, filed on March 31, 2009, shows Pawar holding 1,000 equity shares and 150 preference shares of Lap, and 652 equity shares of Namratta. The affidavit also shows Pawar having a deposit of Rs 61 lakh with Lap.

In the same affidavit, Pawar’s wife Pratibha is shown holding 1,000 equity shares and 10,150 preference shares of Lap, and 1,100 equity and 8,425 preference shares of Namratta.

Through Lap and Namratta, the Pawar family also owns, in total, 25,29,375 preferential shares of City Corporation. This amounts to 16.32% of the total 155,00,000 preferential shares issued by the company.

In Lap Finance, Sharad Pawar, his wife and daughter have 100% voting rights, and own all the 3,000 equity shares issued by the company. Until mid-2006, Supriya Sule owned 2,980 of the 3,000 subscribed equities. According to filings by Lap, Sule on September 4, 2006, transferred 990 shares each to her father and mother. The 2008-09 annual return shows that the three now have 1,000 shares each of the total 3,000 shares.

In Namratta, Pawar, his wife and daughter together hold all the 2,000 equity shares of the company (Sharad Pawar — 652, Pratibha Pawar — 1,100, Supriya Sule - 248). Both Sharad Pawar and his wife are directors of the company. This information was found in the company’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, accessed by TOI between May 20 and 30.

