In a judgement that will have far reaching political consequences, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Thursday ordered CBI probe into the multi-crore scam haunting the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), with former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah as one of the accused.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice B.L. Bhat, pronounced the order in Srinagar wherein it directed the CBI to complete the probe within six months in the multi-crore scam, which many believe runs up to Rs. 113 crore.
The order may rattle the main opposition National Conference as the party president Farooq Abdullah, also former chief minister, is one of the accused.
The accused are charged under Sections 406, 168 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) for allegedly making the sports body a lending agency and for operating many bogus accounts.
The scam started unfolding in 2012 with misappropriation of Rs. 1.90 crore when the then association chairman Muhammad Aslam Goni accused the association’s general secretary Saleem Khan and treasurer Ahsan Mirza of siphoning the money by transferring into an account not related to the JKCA.
Both allegedly opened and operated association’s bank account at Srinagar’s Khanyar branch of the J&K Bank. Money received from the BCCI was parked in the bank account, which did not belong to the association, and swindled later.
The bank has clarified to the police that “the amount from the account was released only after the authority letter of JKCA president Abdullah. It was duly signed by Abdullah on June 27, 2008.”
The JKCA in its defence has claimed that the amount was sanctioned by all the members of the board. Mr. Abdullah had described the charges as “politically motivated” and claimed he never asked ex-treasurers to sign any cheque.
