Ahead of the Assembly elections in the Union Territory, former Chief Minister and the National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah got a big relief as the Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashed the case and chargesheets filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him in the infamous Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam.
Not only Farooq Abdullah, cases and chargesheets filed against others were also quashed in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the JKCA.
A single bench order by Justice Sanjeev Kumar stated that no predicate offence was established against the individuals, leading to the quashing of the charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The ED had named National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza (former treasurer of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association - JKCA), Mir Manzoor Gazanffer (another ex-treasurer of the JKCA), and others in the charge sheet. The accused had approached the high court seeking to quash the chargesheets.
Shariq J Reyaz, representing Mirza and Gazanffer, argued that the ED lacked jurisdiction over the case and that the charge sheets against his clients should be dismissed.
After hearing the arguments, the court reserved its judgment on August 7. The ED was represented by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju via virtual mode.
Reyaz stated that the court accepted their plea that no predicate offence was established and that the ED had no jurisdiction over the case.
Farooq was questioned by ED multiple times
Abdullah has been questioned multiple times by the agency about the case. The ED had previously attached assets worth Rs 21.55 crore belonging to Abdullah and others through three separate orders.
The ED's case is based on a 2018 charge sheet filed by the CBI against the same accused. The CBI charge sheet alleged "misappropriation of JKCA funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore" from grants provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to promote the sport in the erstwhile state between 2002 and 2011.
The ED had earlier stated that 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 (up to December 2011).
It was alleged that several other bank accounts were opened in the name of the JKCA, into which the funds were transferred. These accounts, along with existing ones, were later used for laundering JKCA funds.
ED already attached Farooq's assets
As reported earlier, Dr Farooq Abdullah's assets worth Rs 11.86 crore were already attached by the Enforcement Directorate in the J&K Cricket Association scam, which came to light in 2012.
The 86-year-old veteran politician of J&K, who had earlier served as president of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED several times in this case.
The scam came to light 12 years years ago when Muhammad Aslam Goni, the then JKCA managing committee chairman, lodged an FIR with the police on March 10, 2012, against Ahsan Mirza and Mohammad Saleem Khan - the then JKCA general secretary and chief administrative officer respectively - accusing the duo of pushing the funds into bogus bank accounts created in the name of the association.
From 2006 to 2012, the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) had given a whopping amount of Rs 113 crore to the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association as a grant for the promotion of cricket in J&K. Of this, Rs. 43.69 crore was allegedly siphoned off and misappropriated by some office-bearers of the Association.
It was alleged that during this period, the then president of Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association Dr. Farooq Abdullah connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others to siphon off the funds. Mir Manzoor Gazanfar, who resigned as the treasurer of JKCA in 2008, had claimed that Dr. Abdullah visited his hotel in Srinagar and made him sign blank cheques.
Gazanfar alleged that Dr. Farooq Abdullah came with Ehsan Mirza, the then general secretary of JKCA, and forced him (Gazanfar) to sing some blank cheques.
Ehsan Mirza is also accused of defrauding the association of over Rs 30 crore after allegedly opening bogus bank accounts on its behalf. He was later sacked on charges of embezzlement. He, however, claims that he has been made a scapegoat.
In 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court handed over the investigation of the alleged scam to the CBI while indicting the state police for failing to carry out the probe in which Dr. Farooq Abdullah was named.
The CBI had in 2018 filed a chargesheet against four, including Farooq Abdullah, who was the president of the state cricket board over alleged misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore by the accused office bearers.
On October 21, 2020, Dr. Farooq Abdullah appeared before the Enforcement Directorate's regional office in Rajbagh in Srinagar's Civil Lines.
The Enforcement Directorate attached properties worth Rs 11.86 crore linked to Dr. Farooq Abdullah in connection with the scam on December 19, 2020.
