India
JKCA case: ED requests Srinagar court to add fresh charges against Farooq Abdullah – Times of India
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a petition in a Srinagar court seeking two fresh criminal charges against the former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and others in the JKCA money laundering case by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court last month.
Official sources said that the agency recently filed its petition in the court of the Principal District and Sessions Judge, seeking addition of IPC Sections 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 424 (dishonest or fraudulent disposal or concealment of property) in the case pertaining to alleged financial irregularities in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
The federal agency’s move comes after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on August 14 dismissed the case and charges against Abdullah and several others, finding the offence of money laundering unproven.
The Supreme Court, however, allowed the ED to ‘investigate’ the case in a local court to seek addition of new sections of the Penal Code. If the court decides to file charges against Abdullah and five others for any of the planned offences, the ED can file a fresh case and initiate prosecution.
According to sources, the ED recently filed this application sent by the Supreme Court, stating that the CBI “inadvertently failed/forgot to specifically record/mention the said offence under Sections 411 and 424 of the Penal Code”.
The move comes at a time when elections are being held in J&K and the 86-year-old Abdullah’s party, National Conference (NC), is in the fray along with other parties. Abdullah is the president of NC.
The ED, in its petition, has requested the Srinagar court to frame fresh charges against the accused under the two sections. According to the Srinagar court, the court has wide powers under Section 216 of the Penal Code to ‘add/amend’ charges and ‘this may be exercised in appropriate cases, in the interest of justice’.
Abdullah has been questioned several times by the agency in this case.
The ED has seized assets of Abdullah and others worth Rs 21.55 crore.
The agency’s case is based on a chargesheet filed by the CBI against the same suspect in 2018.
The CBI chargesheet alleged “misappropriation of JKCA funds worth Rs 43.69 crore” from grants provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) between 2002 and 2011 to promote the sport in the erstwhile state.
The Finance Ministry had earlier said its investigation had revealed that JKCA had received Rs 94.06 crore from BCCI in three different bank accounts during the financial years 2005-06 to 2011-12 (up to December 2011).
Official sources said that the agency recently filed its petition in the court of the Principal District and Sessions Judge, seeking addition of IPC Sections 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 424 (dishonest or fraudulent disposal or concealment of property) in the case pertaining to alleged financial irregularities in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
The federal agency’s move comes after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on August 14 dismissed the case and charges against Abdullah and several others, finding the offence of money laundering unproven.
The Supreme Court, however, allowed the ED to ‘investigate’ the case in a local court to seek addition of new sections of the Penal Code. If the court decides to file charges against Abdullah and five others for any of the planned offences, the ED can file a fresh case and initiate prosecution.
According to sources, the ED recently filed this application sent by the Supreme Court, stating that the CBI “inadvertently failed/forgot to specifically record/mention the said offence under Sections 411 and 424 of the Penal Code”.
The move comes at a time when elections are being held in J&K and the 86-year-old Abdullah’s party, National Conference (NC), is in the fray along with other parties. Abdullah is the president of NC.
The ED, in its petition, has requested the Srinagar court to frame fresh charges against the accused under the two sections. According to the Srinagar court, the court has wide powers under Section 216 of the Penal Code to ‘add/amend’ charges and ‘this may be exercised in appropriate cases, in the interest of justice’.
Abdullah has been questioned several times by the agency in this case.
The ED has seized assets of Abdullah and others worth Rs 21.55 crore.
The agency’s case is based on a chargesheet filed by the CBI against the same suspect in 2018.
The CBI chargesheet alleged “misappropriation of JKCA funds worth Rs 43.69 crore” from grants provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) between 2002 and 2011 to promote the sport in the erstwhile state.
The Finance Ministry had earlier said its investigation had revealed that JKCA had received Rs 94.06 crore from BCCI in three different bank accounts during the financial years 2005-06 to 2011-12 (up to December 2011).
