In a major relief to former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on Wednesday quashed a money laundering complaint filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him and others in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds of the J&K Cricket Association.
Farooq Abdullah was not a petitioner before the High Court in the case but was one of the accused in the chargesheet.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar of the High Court said that he found merit in the plea of the counsel for the petitioner and regret his inability to accept the argument of Additional Solicitor General of India which he very vehemently projected.
“This petition is, accordingly, allowed. The complaint, the charge-sheet and the charges framed by the designated Special Court (Principal Sessions Court, Srinagar) vide order dated 18.03.2020 are quashed,” the Court order read.
“It is, however, made clear that notwithstanding quashing of the charges, it shall remain open to the Enforcement Directorate to register ECIR afresh and launch prosecution against the petitioner under Section 3 of the PMLA if ultimately the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar frames charges for offence/offences, which are specifically mentioned in the schedule of PMLA,” the order said.
The ED had named Abdullah, former treasurer of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Ahsan Ahmad Mirza, Mir Manzoor Gazanffer another ex-treasurer of the JKCA and some others as accused in the chargesheet.
There are two cases against Abdullah and others, one registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and another by ED in the alleged financial irregularities in JKCA.
The ED case is based on an FIR filed by the CBI , which booked Abdullah and former JKCA office-bearers, pertaining to misappropriation of over Rs 113 crore funds in J&K cricket body from 2002 to 2012. The alleged scam surfaced in 2012.
The CBI had taken over the case from the J&K police in 2015 on the orders of a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The ED had already attached commercial and residential properties of the former CM worth around Rs 12 crore. Abdullah has been questioned multiple times by the agency in the case.
With regard to the CBI case, the High Court said it has investigated the matter and presented a chargesheet before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar for commission of offences, which are not specifically mentioned in the schedule.
“It is now for the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate to consider the entire material collected during investigation and determine as to what offences are disclosed to have been made out against the accused,” the High Court said.
“The Enforcement Directorate, if so permitted, may approach the Chief Judicial Magistrate and canvass before it that apart from the offences of Section 120-B, 406 and 409 RPC, scheduled offences like Section 411 and 424 RPC are also made out. If the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate frames charges against the petitioner for any of the scheduled offences, it shall be open for the Enforcement Directorate to register fresh ECIR and launch prosecution against the petitioner, if he is found to have been involved in the commission of offence of money laundering under Section 3 PMLA,” it added.
The Court said the Enforcement Directorate cannot be permitted to preempt the outcome of an exercise, which is yet to be undertaken by a competent Court of law at the stage of charge/discharge.
“As on date, the charge-sheet presented by the CBI is only respect of Section 120-B, 406 and 409 RPC, which are admittedly not the scheduled offences.
The Court said that with a view to maintaining harmony and to avoid contradictory stand by the two investigating agencies operating in their independent fields, it is necessary that the Enforcement Directorate respects the decision of the CBI unless it is varied or modified by a competent Court of criminal jurisdiction.
