JKCA case: ED plea in Srinagar court seeks addition of fresh charges against Farooq Abdullah – The Week

Srinagar/New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) – The Enforcement Directorate has filed an application in a Srinagar court seeking the addition of two fresh criminal charges against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and others in the JKCA money laundering case, which was dismissed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court last month.
According to official sources, the agency recently filed its application before the Principal District Court and the Sessions Judge seeking the addition of Sections 411 (dishonest receiving of stolen goods) and 424 (dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property) of the IPC in the case of alleged financial irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
The federal agency's move came after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on August 14 dismissed its case and chargesheet against Abdullah and some others on the grounds that the offence of money laundering was not committed.
The Supreme Court, however, allowed the ED to “try” its case in a local court seeking the addition of new sections of the IPC. If that court decides to frame charges against Abdullah and five others for any of the listed offences, the ED will be free to register a fresh case and initiate prosecution.
According to the sources, the ED recently filed this Supreme Court-ordered application, stating that the CBI “has inadvertently failed to specifically include/mention the said offence under Sections 411 and 424 of the IPC”.
The move comes at a time when elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir and 86-year-old Abdullah's party, the National Conference (NC), is in the fray among other parties. Abdullah is the NC's leader.
The ED, in its application, has urged the Srinagar court to frame fresh charges against the accused under the two sections mentioned, on the grounds that it (the Srinagar court) is vested with wide powers under Section 216 of the CrPC to “add/amend” charges and that “the same can be exercised in the interest of justice in appropriate cases”.
Abdullah was interviewed several times by the agency in this case.
The ED had seized assets of Abdullah and others worth Rs 21.55 crore.
The agency's argument is based on a 2018 chargesheet filed by the CBI against the same accused.
The CBI chargesheet alleges “misappropriation of JKCA funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore” from grants from 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 said its investigation had revealed that the JKCA received Rs 94.06 crore (Rs 9,406 million) from the BCCI in three different bank accounts during the financial years 2005-06 to 2011-12 (up to December 2011).