Lalit Modi withdraws plea from Delhi HC in passport case

New Delhi: Sacked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi today withdrew from the Delhi High Court his plea seeking expeditious hearing before the Ministry of External Affairs against revocation of his passport, saying an order has already been passed by the appellate authority.Appearing before Justice Vipin Sanghi, the counsel for Modi said his client "was informed yesterday about the order passed by the appellate authority and he would like to withdraw his petition as it stands infructuous."[caption id="attachment_123376" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Modi is in London at present. Manpreet Romana/AFP"][/caption]Justice Sanghi allowed Modi to withdraw the petition in which he had sought expeditious decision by the authority hearing his appeal against revocation of his passport by the Mumbai Passport Office for alleged foreign exchange violations.The counsel for Modi informed the court that order on his appeal was already passed on 31 October.Modi had on 2 November approached the high court with an oral plea but the judge had told him to first file a petition before seeking urgent hearing of his case.Senior Advocate Rakesh Tiku, appearing for Modi, had told the court that "his appeal has been pending before the authority since August this year and no order has been passed yet".The Regional passport office in Mumbai had revoked Modi's passport on 3 March this year following Enforcement Directorate's probe into financial irregularities.Modi is in London at present.PTI