Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday quashed the charges filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and others in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
No predicate offence committed, High Court says
A single court order issued by Justice Sanjeev Kumar said no predicate offence was committed against the individuals and therefore the indictment and supplementary indictment filed by the Department of Education stand quashed.
The Education Department had named National Conference chief Abdullah, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza (former JKCA treasurer), Mir Manzoor Gazanffer (another former JKCA treasurer) and a few others as accused in the chargesheet.
Those named in the indictment had applied to the High Court to have the indictment quashed.
Shariq J Reyaz, representing Mirza and Gazanffer, had filed a motion in the high court saying the Education Department had no jurisdiction over the case and the charges filed against his clients should be quashed.
The court, after hearing the arguments, reserved the judgment on August 7. The ED was represented by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju through virtual mode.
Reyaz said the court accepted “our request that no predicate offense had been proven” and that the Department of Education had no jurisdiction over the case.
Mirza was arrested by the Department of Education in September 2019 and a charge sheet was filed against him in November of that year and the trial over that complaint is still ongoing.
Abdullah has been questioned several times by the agency in the case.
The federal investigation agency had attached assets belonging to Abdullah and others worth Rs 21.55 crore under three separate orders issued by it in the past.
The agency’s case is based on a 2018 indictment filed by the CBI against the same accused.
The CBI indictment filed against Abdullah, Mirza, Gazanffer and former accountants Bashir Ahmad Misgar and Gulzar Ahmad Beigh alleged “misappropriation of JKCA funds worth Rs 43.69 crore” from grants given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to promote the sport in the erstwhile state between 2002 and 2011.
The Education Department had earlier said its investigation found that JKCA received Rs 94.06 crore from BCCI in three different bank accounts during the financial years 2005-2006 to 2011-2012 (till December 2011).
It was alleged that other bank accounts had been opened in the name of JKCA to which the funds had been transferred. The bank accounts, along with existing bank accounts, were subsequently used to launder JKCA funds.
(with PTI inputs)
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