IPL's Royals owner accuses former co-owner of blackmail in UK court

Indian Premier League cricket franchise Rajasthan Royals’ majority owner on Wednesday accused his former co-owner of trying to blackmail him by alleging he was defrauded out of his minority stake in the club.

London-based venture capitalist Manoj Badale and his company Emerging Media Ventures are suing businessman Raj Kundra at London’s High Court for allegedly breaching a 2019 confidential settlement agreement.

The case centres on Kundra’s former shares in Rajasthan Royals, winner of 2008’s inaugural IPL which is now cricket’s richest tournament with a brand value of $12 billion.

Manoj Badale’s lawyer Adam Speker said Kundra, who is married to Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, had threatened to report serious allegations to Indian authorities in a “blackmail attempt”.

Kundra, however, says he has been told information about the claimants and his lawyer William McCormick that, if that is not true, “in due course it will be exposed”.

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Kundra had to forfeit his 11.7 percent stake after being found guilty in 2015 of betting on IPL games in a scandal which led to the Rajasthan Royals being suspended for two years, Speker said.

He added in court filings that Raj Kundra emailed Manoj Badale “out of the blue” last month, alleging he had been “misled and defrauded of the rightful value of my 11.7 percent stake”.

The email to Badale said Kundra had filed a complaint with Indian authorities and threatened to make a report to India’s Cricket Board (BCCI).

Raj Kundra added, however, that he was willing to discuss a deal involving “the restoration of my original equity or compensation reflecting the true and current valuation of the Rajasthan Royals franchise”.

Speker said Kundra also messaged disgraced IPL founder Lalit Modi this month, saying Badale “did not realise cheating me of the true value would cost him dearly”.

Badale and his Emerging Media Ventures, which holds a 65 percent stake in Rajasthan Royals, obtained an interim injunction against Kundra on May 30, preventing Kundra from breaching the settlement agreement by making disparaging statements.

Kundra’s lawyer McCormick said Kundra accepted the injunction should continue until a full trial of the lawsuit.

“It is not an admission that anything improper has been done or is being threatened,” McCormick said.