Did Dalmiya negotiate with Doordarshan?
Prem Panicker In the interview with Khalid Ansari referred to earlier in this article, Dalmiya says, and we quote verbatim, this: “I wish to state categorically that I did not negotiate with anybody at Doordarshan or favour them, nor did I do anything to grant television rights to World Tel. There is no question of my defrauding or cheating Doordarshan in collusion with Mark Mascarenhas or anybody else. “I am at a loss to understand the logic of the allegations. If I wanted to favour Mark Mascarenhas, who is supposed to be a friend f mine and if I was the sole negotiator, as alleged, where was the need for me to stage such a drama? I could have awarded him the contract right away. True, ICC authorised me to negotiate in its best interest. That does not mean I was given the freedom to manipulate, to receive kickbacks. What is the Oxford dictionary definition of negotiate?” A rather strange statement, this — in one breath, Dalmiya says he did not negotiate with anyone at Doordarshan, in
