Rajasthan Royals "intend" to appeal ED order

Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals on Monday stated that it "intends to launch a full appeal" against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) order to slap a penalty notice of approximately Rs 100 crore against the IPL franchise for alleged violation of forex laws in its business operations.

"Rajasthan Royals has today received an Order from the Enforcement Directorate in respect of alleged breaches of FEMA. We are discussing the contents of the Order with our lawyers and intend to launch a full appeal against the Order," the franchise said in a statement. "We will not be making any further statement on this matter at this time," it added. The agency, which issued the notice after two years of investigations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), has sent out three separate notices to the IPL franchise totalling Rs 98.5 crore plus some other similar notices earlier, sources said. While a Rs 50 crore penalty has been slapped on Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited (JIPL) and its directors, owners of Rajasthan Royals, Rs 34 crore notice for evasion of forex duties has been issued against EM Sporting Holding, Mauritius and its directors. A fresh notice of Rs 14.5 crore has been issued against Ms ND Investments, United Kingdom and its directors. All the three parties can appeal against this penalty order in the appellate authority of FEMA. The order requires the IPL team to pay up in 45 days. The ED has been investigating financial and foreign exchange irregularities against all the IPL franchises for almost two years, and this is the first big order against any team. PTI