The parallel probes by virtually all its economic intelligence units were instructed by the government to find out the source and use of funds by franchisees of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and reveal possible tax evasions and flouting of rules. The instructions by the government came after strong demands from the opposition.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Monday, "I can assure you that all aspects of IPL will be probed, inclusive of the sources of funding, how the funds were routed and invested."

Just day before yesterday of this announcement, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor stepped down as there were allegations against him that he had negatively used his position to secure benefits for his friend, Dubai-based Sunanda Pushkar, in the Kochi franchise.

Opposition MPs had threatened that if Tharoor was not sacked, they would stall Parliament. If this had happened, it would have delayed a debate on the crucial finance bill and a vote on the budget.

The criticism of Congress came to end after Tharoor's resignation; however, Monday witnessed stronger call to ban IPL with some MPs terming it as 'gambling' and a means to park black money.