HC Rejects ED Plea In JKCA Fund Scam

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday rejected a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking addition of charges related to receiving and concealing stolen property in the alleged Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) fund scam case.

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Justice Sanjay Parihar, however, set aside the trial court's finding that the ED lacked locus standi to move the application, while holding that the agency's substantive plea to invoke Sections 411 and 424 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) was not supported by the material currently available.

The ED had challenged a March 22 order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CBI cases), which had dismissed its application seeking incorporation of the additional charges into the case being prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The agency had argued that although the CBI's primary chargesheet was filed under Sections 120-B, 406 and 409 of the RPC, material gathered during the investigation disclosed sufficient grounds to frame charges under Sections 411 and 424 as well.

The High Court, however, observed that the allegations arising from the CBI chargesheet were essentially based on alleged criminal misappropriation and breach of trust.

“The material presently available does not disclose a distinct receipt or retention of stolen property by the respondents in the capacity contemplated by that provision,” the court said.

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It further observed that the alleged acts formed part of the principal transaction involving conspiracy, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.

The court said mere movement of funds through different bank accounts in furtherance of an alleged conspiracy could not, by itself, justify addition of a charge under Section 411 RPC.

At the same time, the High Court clarified that the ED was within its rights to bring alleged omissions to the trial court's notice after setting aside the finding that it lacked locus standi.

The court also said the rejection of the ED's plea would not prevent the trial court from exercising its powers under Section 216 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to alter or add charges if fresh evidence emerges during the trial.

“Should any material emerge during the course of trial which prima facie discloses commission of an offence under sections 411 or 424 of the RPC, or any other penal provision, it shall remain open to the trial court to exercise its power of alteration or addition of charge, strictly in accordance with law,” the order said.

The ED case stems from an FIR registered by the CBI against former office-bearers of the JKCA, including former general secretary Mohammed Saleem Khan and treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza.

The CBI filed a chargesheet in 2018 against former chief minister and JKCA president Farooq Abdullah, Khan, Mirza, former treasurer Mir Manzoor Gazanffer Ali and former accountants Bashir Ahmad Misgar and Gulzar Ahmad Beigh.

The CBI alleged misappropriation of JKCA funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore from grants provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for promotion of cricket in the erstwhile state between 2002 and 2011.

According to the ED, its investigation found that the JKCA received Rs 94.06 crore from the BCCI through three bank accounts between financial years 2005-06 and 2011-12, up to December 2011.

In February 2020, the ED attached assets worth Rs 2.6 crore belonging to Mirza and Gazanffer, alleging that Mirza transferred substantial amounts into his personal bank accounts, from where the funds were allegedly transferred elsewhere or withdrawn in cash.

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The agency alleged that Rs 1.31 crore of the laundered amount was received by Gazanffer, who was a member of the JKCA finance committee between 2006 and 2009.

The ED further alleged that Mirza and Gazanffer opened a joint personal bank account with Jammu and Kashmir Bank into which JKCA funds were transferred.

The agency alleged that the funds were subsequently withdrawn in cash or transferred to other accounts, including an account linked to Mirza's firm.

According to the ED, Mirza remained an authorised signatory on JKCA bank accounts from 2004 until March 2012. In 2011, he was elected JKCA general secretary, while Farooq Abdullah was its president.

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