LondonLalit Modi, the former head of the Indian Premier League, and Indian businessman has dropped a $3.3m civil claim against the former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns.
Modi had filed civil proceedings when Cairns was first charged with perjury in November 2014.
The legal action had proved costly for Modi, who lost in court to Cairns in 2012 after the player sued him over a tweet which alleged he had been involved in match-fixing in the Indian Cricket League.
Modi ran up substantial costs in his 2012 legal battle with Cairns, which took place in London. His own legal costs were 900,000 pounds ($NZ2.002 million). Cairns has always strongly rejected any involvement in fixing.
As a result of his loss in court, Modi paid $NZ3.12m to Cairns including $NZ200,000 in damages, Cairns legal fees and his lawyer’s success fee, plus an insurance premium Cairns had taken out. Cairns declined to comment on the developments.
Speaking on behalf of New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who Modi needed as a witness in the civil action, lawyer Garth Gallaway said: “He [McCullum] gave evidence when he was asked to by the crown and the Modi trial has nothing to do with him. Brendon won’t be making any comment.”
Modi paid for a lawyer to sit through almost two months of evidence, at the end of which Cairns and his former legal adviser Andrew Fitch-Holland walked free.
Both were charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, for trying to get self-confessed match-fixer Lou Vincent to provide a false statement to the Modi hearing.
Modi had in 2010 tweeted Cairns had been excluded from the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction due to his “past record of match fixing”.
Cairns, who had no record of match-fixing, took legal action. Central to allegations he faced in Southwark Crown Court was his statement in the Modi case he “never, ever cheated at cricket” and nor would he “contemplate doing such a thing”.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court took 10 hours and 17 minutes of deliberation to reach their verdicts. Cairns said the British legal system had vindicated him.
“I’ve been put through the mill and come out the other side, so I’m just a very happy man.”
Modi had cast a shadow over Cairns, even as he was acquitted, making outright celebration premature.
It had been thought Modi was was likely try to claw back more that $1 million in costs and damages he was made to pay after the 2012 trial, as a civil action did not require such as high level of proof as the “beyond reasonable doubt” of the perjury trial. Modi immediately responded to the verdict.
“I am aware of the verdict at Southwark Crown Court. As you know, I am limited in what I can say as I am restricted by the injunction put in place following the 2012 libel trial,” he said.
“I will consider how this affects my own civil claim against Mr Cairns in due course.”
Cairns told media he would think about Modi “next week”. Irrespective of the news the Modi hurdle had now been cleared, Cairns had already accepted his reputation had been ruined and felt he could not work in cricket again.
Trial evidence at times caused sensation, with prostitutes given as enticements to cheat, blackmail allegations, lies, drinking, threats of violence, broken marriages, unpaid debts, and surreptitiously recorded Skype conversations.
At his peak around 2001 he had been one of the world’s best all-rounders and high-regarded in New Zealand cricket circles.
“Reputationally, I’m completely scorched, burnt completely, but it hasn’t stopped me and it won’t stop me. I’ll keep going forward.”
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