FAROOQ MOVES HC AGAINST ED ATTACHING HIS PROPERTY, JUDGE RECUSES

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against an Enforcement Directorate order attaching his properties worth nearly Rs12 crore in a case

of alleged money laundering. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister challenged the December 2020 order before the high court on Wednesday. It is scheduled to come up for hearing later on Friday.

The ED has alleged that Mr. Abdullah “misused” his position as president of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) from 2001-2011 and made appointments in the sports body so Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sponsored funds could be laundered.

Mr. Abdullah said the list of properties attached by the ED in Jammu and Kashmir were unrelated to the alleged criminal activity mentioned in the Final Report/FIR and termed it a “continuing violation of his fundamental rights”.

According to party MP Hasnain Masoodi, the properties were either ancestral or acquired before the alleged offence took place and were therefore not involved in any money-laundering or related criminal activity.

Mr. Abdullah raised the validity of the ED in the case. He said in his petition that on the date of the registration of the ECIR (Enforcement Commission Information Report) and the initiation of investigation, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was governed by the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, 1956, and had special status under Article 370 of the Constitution of India.

He said the ED registered the case on December 28, 2018, under the Ranbir Penal Code (the Indian Penal Code's substitute in the erstwhile state) without ascertaining whether it had any jurisdiction to do so.

On December 19, 2020 the ED issued a provisional order attaching the properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). An appeal could be filed before the adjudicating authority of the PMLA within a six-month period.

According to an ED statement, the attached properties include three residential houses -at Gupkar Road in Srinagar, Katipora Tehsil in Tanmarg and Bhatindi in Sunjwan village of Jammu.

“A commercial building at posh Residency Road in Srinagar has also been attached besides lands at four different places in JK,” the agency had said.

While the book value of the attached properties is Rs11.86 crore, their market value is estimated to be about Rs 60-70 crore, officials said.

The 84-year-old NC patron has been questioned by the ED in the case several times, the last in October 2020 at Srinagar.