Charges to be framed against Farooq in cricket assn ‘scam’
ED plea to be a party in case rejected
A local court in Srinagar has ordered the framing of charges against National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and other accused in the alleged Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam case.
In a five-page order passed earlier this week, Srinagar Chief Judicial Magistrate Tabasum directed that the case be listed on March 12 for framing of charges.
“List the main file on 12/03/2026 for framing of charge. After framing of charge statement of approvers, i.e., accused no. 3 and 6 shall be recorded as evidence, in case they resile from their stand appropriate orders shall follow,” the court said.
However, the court rejected an application by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to be made a party in the case. “Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, provisions of law and judicial precedents, ED cannot be made as a party in a case which is investigated, filed and prosecuted by the CBI and where no schedule offence is disclosed in the charge sheet by the CBI.
“Therefore, the applicant has no locus standi as per the law to seek the addition of charge in the present case. As such, the instant application on behalf of ED is not maintainable,” the court said. The court also held that the ED’s application was vague and sought contradictory reliefs.
“In some places of the application, the applicant is seeking addition of Section 411 & 414 of the IPC by exercise of powers under section 216 of the Cr.P.C but the matter of the fact is that the applicant is seeking to invoke repealed provisions of law because the Indian Penal Code is not applicable in the instant case and the said IPC was repealed with effect from 01/07/2024,” the court added.
The court observed that the ED’s powers to investigate are primarily linked to the offence of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“The ED cannot assume from the material gathered by it that a predicate offence stands committed. The predicate offence has to be necessarily investigated and tried by the authorities empowered by law.
