Chargesheet Against Farooq Abdullah, Others in J&K Cricket Scam

Abdullah was the president of the association when the alleged misappropriation of funds first surfaced.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah. 

(Photo: PTI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday, 16 July, filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and three others, for alleged misappropriation of funds at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.

The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah, the then president of JKCA, Md Saleem Khan (the then general secretary), Ahsan Ahmad Mirza (the then treasurer) and Bashir Ahmad Misgar, an executive in the J&K Bank.

The BCCI gave Rs 112 crore to the JKCA between 2002 and 2011 for the development of cricket facilities in the state. Of this, Rs 43.69 crore was siphoned off and misappropriated by the accused, the agency has alleged, PTI reports.

Abdullah was the president of the association when the alleged misappropriation of funds first came to the notice of the agency, between 2001 and 2011.

Responding to the charges against Abdullah, the National Conference said: “Dr Farooq Abdullah has full faith in the judicial system and re-asserts his commitment to cooperate with the Honourable Court's proceedings, in the matter relating to certain financial transactions of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association,” reported ANI.

According to The Indian Express, the news regarding the scam first surfaced in 2012.

Following this, the CBI took over the case from the state police in 2015, up on the orders of a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

The High Court’s order for the CBI to pick up the case came after the police, which had been carrying out investigations for three years, failed to produce any results, the report adds.

(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express)