Rs 43-crore JKCA scam case: Court issues non-bailable warrant against Farooq Abdullah | India News
New Delhi: A local court in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant against former chief minister Farooq Abdullah in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar Tabassum issued the warrant after Abdullah failed to appear in court in person or in virtual mode, news agency PTI reported. The court also dismissed his plea seeking exemption from personal appearance.The magistrate similarly rejected the bail plea filed by another accused in the case, Manzoor Ghazanfar Ali, and issued a non-bailable warrant against him as well.“If any of the accused fails to appear before the court, appropriate orders will be followed,” the court said, listing the matter for next hearing on March 30.The development comes days after the Enforcement Directorate rejected a plea to add charges against Abdullah and others in the JKCA scam case. The court ruled that the ED cannot be made a party in cases already investigated and chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.However, the court observed that there was prima facie evidence against the accused including Abdullah and said that the essential elements of the offense under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 409 of the Ranbir Penal Code were made out. The court then fixed the date of hearing for framing of charges.The case alleges misappropriation of funds within the JKCA. In 2018, the CBI filed a chargesheet accusing Abdullah and several others of embezzling around Rs 43 crore from grants given by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.According to the CBI, the funds were siphoned off between 2002 and 2011, when Abdullah was president of the JKCA.The chargesheet also named former JKCA general secretary Mohammad Salim Khan, former treasurer Ahsan Ahmed Mirza and Jammu and Kashmir Bank executive Bashir Ahmed Misgar in the case.
