SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s plea seeking addition of charges related to receiving and concealing stolen property in the alleged Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association fund scam.
Justice Sanjay Parihar, while dismissing the plea, set aside the trial court’s finding that the ED had no locus standi to seek addition of the charges.
The court, however, held that the material presently available did not warrant invoking Sections 411 and 424 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), dealing with dishonestly receiving stolen property and dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property.
The ED had challenged a March 22 order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CBI Cases), which had rejected its application seeking incorporation of the additional charges into the case being prosecuted by the CBI.
The agency had argued that although the CBI’s chargesheet invoked Sections 120-B, 406 and 409 of the RPC, material gathered during the investigation disclosed grounds for framing charges under Sections 411 and 424 as well.
The High Court disagreed, observing that the allegations in the CBI chargesheet primarily related to alleged criminal misappropriation and breach of trust.
“The material presently available does not disclose a distinct receipt or retention of stolen property,” the court said, adding that the alleged acts formed part of the principal transaction involving conspiracy, misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.
The court further held that merely moving funds through different bank accounts in furtherance of an alleged conspiracy could not, by itself, justify addition of a charge under Section 411 of the RPC.
At the same time, the High Court clarified that the ED was entitled to bring alleged omissions to the trial court’s notice. It also said the rejection of the present plea would not prevent the trial court from altering or adding charges if fresh evidence emerges during the trial.
Under Section 216 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the trial court can alter or add charges at any stage before judgment, the court noted.
The order said that if material emerges during the trial indicating the commission of offences under Sections 411 or 424, or any other penal provision, the trial court would remain free to exercise its powers in accordance with law.
The ED’s case stems from a CBI FIR 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 JKCA treasurer Mir Manzoor Gazanffer Ali and former accountants Bashir Ahmad Misgar and Gulzar Ahmad Beigh.
The chargesheet alleged misappropriation of JKCA funds amounting to Rs 43.69 crore from grants received from 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, the JKCA received Rs 94.06 crore from the BCCI through three bank accounts between the financial years 2005-06 and 2011-12, up to December 2011.
In February 2020, the agency attached assets worth Rs 2.6 crore belonging to Mirza and Gazanffer. The ED alleged that Mirza transferred substantial amounts from JKCA accounts into his personal accounts, from where the money was allegedly transferred elsewhere or withdrawn in cash.
The agency further 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.
According to the ED, a personal bank account was opened jointly by the two with Jammu and Kashmir Bank, through which JKCA funds were allegedly transferred. The funds were subsequently withdrawn in cash or moved to other accounts, including an account belonging to Mirza’s firm.
The ED has alleged that the diversion of JKCA funds continued during the period, with Mirza remaining an authorised signatory on the association’s bank accounts from 2004 to March 2012.
