Chris Cairns wins libel case against Lalit Modi

Zeenews Sports Bureau

London: Former New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns has won the libel case against former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi on Monday. Cairns has been awarded damages of 90,000 pounds (Rs 73 lakhs). Neither party was present when the verdict - which is open to appeal - was announced in the High Court in London. Modi will now have to cough up a part of the damages within the next 28 days and has until April 20 to file an appeal. "Your client is a man of some means, you'll need to persuade me on a stay," the court said when Modi's lawyer asked for a stay on damages. Cairns had sued Lalit Modi for a post on a microblogging site made in 2010 that accused him of match fixing in the 2008 edition of Indian Cricket League. Cairns had vehemently denied any wrongdoings in the matter claiming he never cheated. Cairns was captain of Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League but his contract was terminated in October 2008, during the third edition of the tournament. The official reason given was that Cairns had breached the terms of his contract by failing to disclose an ankle injury. Following this, then IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had tweeted that Chris Cairns had been removed from the 2010 IPL auction list because of his involvement with match-fixing during the Indian Cricket League. Denying the claims of fixing, Cairns sued Modi for defamation. Cairns was "angry" and "sad" over the accusations that were made against him saying they had has caused him personal distress and professional damage. "For him to circulate such a falsehood around the world is outrageous. Mr. Modi's allegation has caused me huge personal distress and professional damage,” he said. In his four-hour closing summary, Cairns' lawyer Andrew Caldecott QC had stated that his client had been made "a scapegoat of convenience". With PTI inputs