Sunanda's lawyer says she has voluntarily given up stake in IPL Kochi consortium - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Sunanda Pushkar's lawyer, Ashish Mehta, on Sunday said that she has voluntarily given up her Rs 70 crore 'sweat equity' stake in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Kochi consortium, adding that her decision has nothing to do with Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor. "She has given her stake voluntarily and seeks no compensation," said Mehta. "Sunanda is deeply distressed with the whole issue," he added, asserting that it had nothing to do with Tharoor. Sunanda Pushkar had a 4.7 percent stake in the IPL Kochi franchise. Earlier, there were reports that Sunanda may sell off her sweat equity in the Kochi IPL franchise to avoid further scrutiny and unnecessary publicity. Tharoor is reportedly in trouble after IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi tweeted to reveal that Sunanda, a close associate of Tharoor, had been gifted sweat equity worth Rs 70 crores in the new Kochi team, which was sold for Rs 1530 crores last month. Modi in his email to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Shashank Manohar had stated it was Tharoor who called him and instructed him not to reveal the identities of the stakeholders of the Kochi IPL franchisee. Tharoor, however, has denied this. Tharoor said he had 'enough' of the controversy and denied securing any monetary interest in the Kochi IPL team.