JKCA scam: Farooq Abdullah to appear in court on Aug 29
Srinagar: The Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar on Friday admitted the bail application of former chief minister and current Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Farooq Abdullah, in the case being prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over a multi-crore scam in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA).
The court ordered that Farooq Abdullah furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety bond of like amount, and personally appear before the court for attestation of the personal bond by or before next date of hearing: August 29.
Farooq Abdullah figures as accused number 4 in the chargesheet filed by the CBI in the JKCA scam. Farooq’s counsel Advocate Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khan submitted an application for grant of bail and also sought exemption for Farooq’s personal appearance before the CJM Srinagar’s court.
The CBI opposed the bail application and submitted that there were serious issues involved for which the accused cannot be granted bail as matter of right. The CBI’s counsel said that exemption for personal appearance cannot be granted on grounds of old age as the applicant had all means to appear before the court.
Advocate Ishtiyaq Ahmad Khan placed reliance upon a judgement, titled, “Court on its own motion versus CBI 109 (2003), DLT 494”, to submit that the applicant was entitled to bail even in absence. He also submitted that as the investigation had been completed and the challan presented before the court, the accused was not required for any purpose by the investigating agency, especially as anticipatory bail plea of all the other accused had already been admitted by the court.
The CJM said that after evaluation of the material on record and the position of law, Farooq Abdullah’s bail application was admitted subject to his physical appearance before the court by or before August 29, the next date of hearing.
The JKCA scam involves payment of Rs 113.67 crore by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to the state cricket body between 2002 and 2011, of which more than Rs 40 crore was “misappropriated”.
The charges have been framed against the accused under Sections 120B, 406 & 409 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). Criminal breach of trust and charges of criminal conspiracy have been levelled against Abdullah and the other accused, namely the then president of JKCA, Mohd Saleem Khan, the then general secretary, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza, the then treasurer and J&K Bank executive, Bashir Ahmad Misgar.
The case was registered based on a complaint lodged by former JKCA chairman Mohammad Aslam Goni.
