A court in Srinagar recalled a non-bailable warrant it had earlier issued against former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah in connection with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) ”scam” after his counsel moved an application explaining his absence from the proceedings.
Counsel for Abdullah, Ishtiyaq Khan, told the court that the former Chief Minister could not attend the hearing due to the trauma caused by a “murderous attack” on him a day earlier in Jammu..
He submitted that the National Conference president was unable to appear either physically or through virtual mode because of the aftermath of the incident.
Khan said he initially filed a routine exemption application, but after the court issued the non-bailable warrant in open court, he moved a detailed application seeking recall of the warrant and explained the circumstances behind Abdullah’s absence.
The court accepted the plea and immediately recalled the warrant, he said, adding that such a recall has to be made by the same judge who issued the warrant.
The matter will now be taken up on the next scheduled date of hearing on March 30.
On Thursday, Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar Tabassum had issued a non-bailable warrant against Abdullah in a multi crore JKCA financial irregularities case. The warrant against Abdullah was issued as he had failed to appear in court either in person or online.
The alleged scam is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which, in 2018, chargesheeted Abdullah and several others for allegedly siphoning off around Rs 43 crore from grants provided by BCCI to JKCA.
