The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and others in connection with the money laundering case of irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). On August 14, the state’s High Court has completely quashed the chargesheet filed by the ED.

Justice Sanjeev Kumar, who conducted the proceedings, said that the people who were accused had not committed any crime and hence the chargesheet was quashed. The ED had filed the chargesheet against National Conference chief Abdullah, Ehsan Ahmed Mirza, former treasurer of JKCA, Mir Manzoor Ghazanfar, and others.

The ED had filed a chargesheet accusing the JKCA of misappropriating funds received from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. It was reported that Rs 94.06 crore was received in three different bank accounts during the financial years 2005-2006 to 2011-12. This is why Abdullah, Mirza Ghazanfar, former writer Bashir Ahmad Misgar, and Gulzar Ahmad Baig were accused by the JKCA of misappropriating funds worth Rs 43.69 crore.

Following this, the ED filed a case against Abdullah and all others in 2018 citing a chargesheet filed by the CBI on the same allegations even though three separate orders were passed earlier. Moreover, the ED arrested Mirza in November 2019 on the basis of the chargesheet and his case is still going on.

Our petition has been accepted, ED had no jurisdiction over the case: Shariq J Riaz

Mirza and Ghazanfar were represented by Shariq J Riaz as they approached the high court seeking quashing of the case filed by the ED. Additional Solicitor General V Raju argued on behalf of the ED and the order was reserved for August 7.

However, Reyaz has confirmed that ‘our argument is that no wrongdoing was committed.’ The court’s decision has been negotiated in his favour. Apart from this, he has also revealed that the ED had no jurisdiction over the said case.