SRINAGAR: Senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar Andrabi, along with two former officials of Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC), has been fully acquitted by the Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Kashmir, Surinder Singh, in connection with a high-profile corruption case registered six years ago. The judge found the charges “groundless” and ordered dismissal of the chargesheet filed against the trio in 2021.
The case originated in 2019 when the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police registered an FIR against Andrabi, then managing director Vikar Mustafa Shonthu, and then company secretary Neeru Chadha under several sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Ranbir Penal Code. The FIR was prompted by a report from the Jammu and Kashmir administration citing irregularities in Shonthu’s 2018 appointment as managing director of JKPCC by Andrabi, who was chairman of the board at the time. The issue surfaced after a government-appointed fact-finding committee concluded Shonthu’s appointment was “illegal and in gross violation” of established rules.
In its 27-page order delivered on August 29, the court meticulously analysed the available evidence, witness statements, and administrative procedures. Judge Singh stressed that the criminal court “has not to act as post office and become mouthpiece of the prosecution,” emphasising that the mere existence of allegations or procedural discrepancies does not justify framing charges in the absence of concrete material or substantive evidence.
The court observed that while some actions by the accused may have been contrary to departmental norms, there was no indication of corrupt intent, illegal means, or abuse of office for personal gain. Specifically, the judge noted, “It is difficult to visualise that the accused can be construed to have adopted corrupt or illegal means or to have abused his position to obtain any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage either for himself or for other accused”.
The judgement also highlighted that for criminal conspiracy and other penal charges to stand, there must be actual evidence showing a prior agreement or collusion between the accused. “The material on record would nowhere show any iota of evidence direct or circumstantial to satisfy the court that there was a prior meeting of minds between the accused persons,” Judge Singh wrote, making clear that suspicion and procedural irregularities alone are insufficient grounds for criminal prosecution.
The Special Judge concluded that there was no foundation to frame charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act or interconnected sections of the Ranbir Penal Code. Accordingly, the chargesheet was dismissed and all accused discharged, with bail bonds formally released.
This acquittal, announced just months after a prolonged trial, marks the close of a politically-sensitive case that emerged in the aftermath of the PDP-BJP government’s fall in 2018. The order reinforces judicial standards for evaluating evidence and upholds the principle that criminal courts must act on substantiated facts, not prosecutorial presumption.
