The Times Of India reports Canberra resident and former New Zealand cricket star Chris Cairns has had a big win in the London courts over Indian cricket kingpin Lalit Modi:
Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns won a libel suit against Lalit Modi in London that left the former chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) close to £500,000 (close to Rs 4 cr) in the red.
In the first libel suit heard in England against a Twitter post, the 41-year-old Kiwi cricketer was awarded £90,000 (Rs 74 lakh approx) damages after Judge David Bean dismissed fixing allegations levelled against the cricketer by Modi.
Much to Modi’s disappointment, the court also ordered him to pay an additional £400,000 (Rs 3.26 cr) on account of Cairns’ legal costs within 28 days. The figures do not include Modi’s own legal costs.
Modi is considering an appeal which will only make the lawyers even happier, especially as most people would never have heard of the allegations against Cairns if he wasn’t pioneering international libel law.