Now that Shashi Tharoor has been sacrificed on the altar of piety it is time to ensure that the chapter is not closed.

On the contrary, what needs to be done is to first investigate whether the Rendezvous bid was in actual fact confidential and whether the twittering of the details with names by Lalit Modi was an act of impropriety. It would be exceedingly unfair to indict only Tharoor and let the breaking of the sanctity of the contract go by without suitable action.

The BCCI has a role to play. The role is not limited to clipping Mr Modi’s wings or slapping his wrist in a playful manner because no one wants to upset a man who has the power and the wealth of a hugely successful venture. To stop there would be cowardice. If, indeed these details have been unfairly disclosed and made public and were binding in the agreement, then Mr Modi stands liable for criminal charges and has to be asked why he thought it right to misuse his executive authority by divulging information not to official sources if he suspected something wrong but sending it out on Twitter as if it was some infantile piece of gossip.
That is hardly edifying and in the aftermath of the Tharoor resignation which has created a certain wave of sympathy that an intelligent, well read and educated man has been lost to Indian politics, there is even less sympathy now for Modi who seems to be rising to the role of villain of the piece in that there seems no reason why he is swanning about the place promising everything will be fine when there is a need to ask him some hard questions.
One would imagine the media’s feeding frenzy is a bit glutted at the moment and it needs to digest its bloodlust in the immediate indigestion of the Tharoor feast so it would be a few days before the next episode in this serial gains speed but that it must and it would be a shame if it all sort of ended in this shabby fashion.

Tharoor may have been shortsighted or blinded by love but he is a lot more accomplished than Mr Modi and deserves a chance to get to the crease and play his innings before the match is decided.

By arrangement with The Khaleej Times, Dubai.