Scandals and Controversies of 2010
Kochi Franchisee Scandal
Former Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi was involved in bitter verbal volleys with the then Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor with regards to making public the stakeholders and their identities in Kochi IPL franchisee. The Kochi Franchisee, which won the bid for the eighth team in the IPL, was promoted by Sashi Tharoor and Rendezvous Sports where Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar had a stake. The controversy cost Tharoor a place in the ministry and Modi was ousted by the BCCI.
P Chidambaram: Hindu terror and Delhi Migrants
Home Minister P. Chidambaram has been on the front foot against Hindu terror, which he claims, led to the Malegaon blast of 2008 and smaller instances of blasts all over the country. The Home Minister has been saying that the role of RSS and VHP officials in blasts should also be probed.
The year also saw a Hindu right-wing mob attacking the Headlines Today-Aaj Tak office in New Delhi for broadcasting a sting operation on an alleged plot to assassinate Vice President Hamid Ansari. The Home Minister also grabbed the headlines when whe said that incidences of crime in the national capital are increasing because of migrants in the city. He however retracted his statement the same day.
Pakistan cricket's spot-fixing scandal
Pakistan cricket was engulfed in a major scandal when the then captain Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were involved in a spot-fixing during the Lord's Test against England in August.
The matter came to light after a sting operation by the British tabloid The News of the World. As the ICC started investigation with the help of Scotland Yard, more names came up including a UK-based bookie Mazhar Majeed.
The tabloid alleged that Majeed had paid bribes to the players to bowl no-balls in the series and the Lord's Test. The video evidence that the tabloid presented also shows Majeed talking about his links with Indian bookies. "I deal with an Indian party. They pay me for the information," Majeed is quoted as saying.
Later in another secret video, Majeed revealed that four more players - Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Imran Farhat - were also involved in spot-fixing.
Lalit Modi and IPL scandal
Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi who was at the helm of the league for two seasons was unceremoniously sacked by the BCCI. The Board acted after Lalit Modi was involved in bitter verbal volleys with the then Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor with regards to making public the stakeholders and their identities in Kochi IPL franchisee.
Commonwealth Games
The alleged illegitimate wealth created by some top officials of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee through over-reporting of Games costs is being investigated by the Central Vigilance Commission.
Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, secretary general Lalit Bhanot and a senior Games official T.S. Darbari are the big names involved.
Suresh Kalmadi, who was also serving as the Congress Parliamentary Party's secretary, was shown the door by the party following startling revelations of fraud.
Adarsh Housing scam
Flats in the Adarsh cooperative Housing Society were meant for war widows. But it was found that flats were alloted to kin of top armymen and politicians. The Indian Navy added fuel to the fire when it said that it was not in favour of giving an NoC to the society but the Army forced it to do so. Then Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashiok Chavan as also caught in the controversy when flats were found to have been alloted to his relatives. The CM had to resign following the revelations.
Lavasa township scam
The Union Ministry of Enviroment and Forests issued a stop-work notice to Maharashtra lakeside-township Lavasa for violating Environmental Impact Assessment in late November. Lavasa has challenged the notice saying it is exempt from such assessment. The case is in the Bombay High Court.