The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday quashed the chargesheets filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and several others in connection with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) case.
The high court quashed the charges against Abdullah by ED as part of an investigation into financial irregularities within the JKCA.
In February, the ED issued a fresh summon to National Conference (NC) president for questioning in a money laundering case. The fresh summon was issued after Abdullah skipped the previous summon.
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Abdullah was charged by the federal agency in 2022. According to news reports, the case pertains to alleged diversion of funds from the JKCA to different personal bank accounts of unrelated parties, which also included JKCA office bearers.
It was further alleged that there were unexplained cash withdrawals from the JKCA bank accounts. This scam allegedly took place between 2001 to 2012, when Abdullah was the President of the JKCA.
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Reportedly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had allocated a sum of Rs 112 crore to JKCA. Out of this amount Rs 43.6 crore was allegedly siphoned off. The ED had alleged that it identified Rs 51.90 crores as proceeds of crime. The central agency also attached assets worth Rs 21.55 crore out of these Rs 51.90 crores.
According to reports, the ED case is based on the same accused against whom the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a chargesheet in 2018. Today, after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court's decision, the charges of financial irregularities against the Abdullah stand quashed.
The 86-year-old politician, is currently the President of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982. He has also been elected as Member of Parliament from Srinagar several times and has also served as union minister in the Centre government between 2009 and 2014.