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2018 (2) TMI 762 - HC - FEMARight to cross-examine - Cross examine the witnesses whose statements were recorded under Section 37 of FEMA and whose statements have been relied upon in the complaint - complaint alleges that the provisions of section 3(b) of the FEMA have been contravened by the petitioner by making a payment to Cricket South Africa (CSA) a person residing outside India without permission of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and that is inter alia apparent from an agreement dated 30th March 2009 executed between the BCCI and Cricket South Africa - Held that - (i) The impugned order dated 10th July 2015 and the contents of the communication are quashed and set aside. (ii) We direct respondent no. 1 to issue summons to the persons whose statements have been recorded and permit the advocates for the petitioner to cross-examine them. However we are of the firm view that neither the petitioner nor the respondents can delay the proceedings any further. (iii) We are indeed surprised that the show cause notice issued way back on 25th November 2011 remains unadjudicated till date. We do not see how even the respondents agreed to the postponement of the proceedings before this court and in a petition filed on 21st August 2015. Since this petition was pending for more than two years the adjudication has been delayed further. Hence to ensure that the adjudication proceedings come to an end expeditiously we direct that the petitioner will appear before the adjudicating authority on 14th February 2018 at 10.30 a.m. and the adjudicating authority shall issue summonses in the requisite forms to the persons whose statements have been recorded and are being relied upon to appear before it for cross-examination and such cross examination shall be held on or before 2nd March 2018. (iv) The cross-examination shall be conducted and concluded in two or three sittings and positively by 13th March 2018. (v) After the cross-examination is conducted and further opportunities as envisaged by the rules are provided we direct that the adjudication proceedings shall be concluded as expeditiously as possible and in any event by 31st May 2018. No extension shall be granted in any circumstances. (vi) We clarify that we have not expressed any opinion on the rival contentions as far as the merits of the allegations in the show cause notices. We also clarify that each of them are kept open for being raised at an appropriate stage before appropriate forum. We must indicate that it is because of the acts and deeds of the BCCI in relation to a tournament styled as IPL that all these proceedings had to be initiated and now conducted in accordance with the FEMA. If IPL has led to serious breaches and violations of the FEMA then it is high time the organisers realise that after 10 years of holding such tournaments what we have achieved can be termed as a gain or advantage or benefit for they are outweighed completely by the resultant illegalities and breaches of law which are projected in several courts consuming a lot of precious judicial time. If the IPL has resulted in all of us being acquainted and familiar with phrases such as Betting fixing of matches then the RBI and the Central Government should at least now consider whether holding such tournaments serves the interest of a budding cricketer the sport the game itself. There is a auction and buying and selling of young cricket players by business houses and chubs. Apart from huge money involved the tournament has brought with it crimes and casualties in the form of ban on clubs and players allegedly involved in wrong doing and breaching of rules and regulations
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