JKCA case: ED charge sheets against Farooq Abdullah, others quashed

A single-judge bench of the J&K high court ruled that ‘no predicate offence was made against the individuals named.’

The Jammu and Kashmir high court on Wednesday quashed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) charge sheets against Farooq Abdullah and others in connection with the agency's money laundering probe in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) alleged irregularities case.

Former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah. (File)

“No predicate offence was made against the individuals. Hence, the charge sheets and supplementary charge sheet are quashed,” Justice Sanjeev Kumar ruled.

Those named in the charge sheets had sought their quashing in the high court. Besides ex-chief minister Abdullah, the-then JKCA president under whom the ‘irregularities’ occurred, those named included two former treasurers – Ahsan Ahmed Mirza and Mir Manzoor Gazanffer – and others.

Shariq J Reyaz, the ex-treasurers' lawyer, argued against ED's 'jurisdiction’ in the case, calling for its charge sheets to be quashed. The agency was represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG), SV Raju.

On August 7, the judgment was reserved.

The ED's case stems from a 2018 charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the same set of people. The CBI claimed that they "misappropriated' JKCA funds worth ₹43.69 crore from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to promote the sport in the erstwhile state, between 2002 and 2011.

The ED probe had found that JKCA received ₹94.06 crore from BCCI in three different bank accounts during financial years 2005-2006 to 2011-2012 (up to December 2011). It had claimed that several bank accounts were opened to transfer the funds to JKCA, and these accounts, along with the existing ones, were later used for the laundering.

(With PTI inputs)