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IPL COMMISSIONER Lalit Modi appears to have recognised the power of the Internet to leverage businesses. ‘Lalit Modi’ is listed as the owner of as many as 132 domains on the web, including the official websites of the IPL and the Champions League. One J. Cherian, who is listed as the technical/ administrative contact for the official website of the IPL, has an email address hosted at modi.com, the mailserver address and domain name of Modi’s family business empire.

His name, along with Modi’s is associated with as many as 174 domains, investigations by this newspaper show. Modi also appears to have registered several permutations and combination of the official website. As many as 24 domains such as these are registered in his name, and list his email ID as lalitkmodi@ gmail.com.

Interestingly, the address given in several such domains is 25, Chester Street, London, London SW1x 7bl . This is in the tony Belgravia area of London, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace and Belgravia Square. The property at 25 Chester Street does not officially list the owner’s details. But mouseprice.com, a popular London property website, lists the property as a 233 square metre terrace flat. Similar properties in the area range around a quarter of a million pounds.

Interestingly, there appears to have been some attempts to change some of the records at these sites. The official website of IPL, www.iplt20.com, which used to list Cherian as the administrative contact and gave the address as 3rd Floor, Nirlon House, Worli, Mumbai, now lists ‘bccl/ipl’ as the owner and gives the address as Wankhede Stadium. Incidentally, Wankhede Stadium is currently closed as it is being completely rebuilt. Modi’s connections with those holding the digital, Internet and mobile rights of IPL have already sparked a controversy.

Sources close to the current investigation say there is nothing illegal in Modi owning these domains, many of which can be registered for just a handful of dollars per year. However, the BCCI would find that it will have to evict the ‘domain squatters’ in case it ever wants to officially claim ownership of the IPL brand, which is valued at over $4 billion (Rs 17,726 crore) commercially. In which case, it might have to fight a legal battle to wrest control from Modi, even if Modi is removed from the IPL in future. Emailed queries sent to Modi went unanswered.