Srinagar, Aug 14: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed the charge sheets filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and others, in a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
In a ruling delivered by Justice Sanjeev Kumar, the court stated that there was no predicate offence against the individuals involved. Consequently, the ED’s charge sheet and supplementary charge sheet have been annulled.
The ED had named National Conference leader Abdullah, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza (former treasurer of JKCA), Mir Manzoor Gazanffer (another former treasurer of JKCA), and others as accused in the case. The individuals listed in the charge sheet had sought the court’s intervention to quash the charges, arguing that the ED lacked jurisdiction over the matter.
Shariq J Reyaz, representing Mirza and Gazanffer, contended that the ED’s jurisdiction was invalid and that the charge sheets against his clients should be dismissed. The court reserved judgment on August 7, with the ED represented by Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju through virtual means.
Reyaz confirmed that the court accepted their argument that no predicate offence had been established and that the ED’s jurisdiction was not valid.
Mirza was arrested by the ED in September 2019, and a charge sheet was filed against him in November of the same year, with the trial ongoing. Abdullah has been questioned multiple times by the agency, which had previously attached assets worth Rs 21.55 crore belonging to Abdullah and others under three separate orders.
The ED’s investigation was based on a 2018 charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which alleged misappropriation of Rs 43.69 crore from JKCA funds between 2002 and 2011, received from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to promote cricket in the region. The ED’s probe had found that JKCA received Rs 94.06 crore from BCCI, and alleged that funds were transferred into various bank accounts for laundering.
