Modi to appeal against London High Court verdict

Axed IPL commissioner Lalit Modi will be appealing against the London High Court's verdict in the libel case filed against him by former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns.

"After discussions with my legal team, I am appealing the decision and consequently, it would not be appropriate to comment any further at this time," Modi was quoted as saying by his spokesperson Phil Mepham.

Modi has to lodge papers by April 20.

Modi lost a libel case to Cairns and was asked to pay 90,000 pounds (app Rs 73 lakh) in damages to the all-rounder.

Neither party was present when the verdict -- open to appeal -- was announced in the high court.

Cairns had sued Modi over a tweet in which the latter accused the New Zealander of being involved in match-fixing during the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008.

Cairns was captain of the Chandigarh Lions in the ICL but his contract was terminated in October 2008, during the third edition of the tournament.

The official reason given was that Cairns had breached the terms of his contract by failing to disclose an ankle injury.

In his capacity as IPL commissioner at that point, Modi had made these allegations on Twitter in 2010 while justifying the decision to keep Cairns out of the league.

Cairns, 41, then sued Modi, stating that "the claim was untrue and therefore libellous, and had damaged his reputation."

After hearing the arguments from both sides in a nine-day trial, Justice David Bean of the London High Court had ruled in the favour of Cairns.