March 2025 - News Digest

March 8

Lalit Modi acquires Vanuatu passport, to continue living in UK

Lalit Modi, the former chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has acquired the citizenship of Vanuatu, a South Pacific Ocean nation. Modi's lawyers said he is in the process of surrendering his Indian passport.

"He has taken all necessary steps for the surrender of his Indian passport as per the prescribed procedure," Mehmood Abdi, Modi's lawyer said.

Modi, who left India in 2010 following controversy and purge in the IPL setup, will continue to live in the UK, where he has been living for the last 15 years. "He is a resident of the UK and he will remain there," a source close to Modi said.

"We would also like to emphasize that no chargesheet or complaint has ever been filed against Lalit Modi by any Indian agency in any court in India, and no charges have ever been framed against him by any Indian court," Abdi said in a statement.

The requirement to surrender the passport arises because an Indian citizen is not permitted to hold dual passports.

Modi is the founder of the IPL. Following the 2010 controversy that led to his expulsion from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, he left the country amidst allegations of corruption.