Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a money laundering case on May 31, officials said.
The case pertains to alleged financial irregularities worth ₹113 crore in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) when Abdullah was the president between 2006 and 2012.
The summon to the NC leader has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for appearance at the ED office in Chandigarh on May 31, the officials cited above said.
The ED had questioned the 84-year-old in the same case earlier on two occasions in 2019 and 2020.
Reacting to the summons, the NC said Abdullah, a Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, “has cooperated with investigative agencies and will do so” again.
The party also claimed the ED summons was a price opposition parties have to pay ahead of any elections.
“Every time elections are expected to be announced in any state, the investigative agencies move in first to clear the path for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This appears to be the case this time as well and this is the price opposition parties pay for opposing this government,” NC spokesperson Imran Dar said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“Every time elections are expected to be announced in any state, the investigative agencies move in first to clear the path for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This appears to be the case this time as well and this is the price opposition parties pay for opposing this government,” NC spokesperson Imran Dar said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}The Delimitation Commission, which was tasked to carve out new constituencies in the Union territory, on May 5 finalised the new electoral map, paving the way for elections in the region for the first time since its special status, granted under Article 370 of the Constitution, was scrapped in 2019.
Dar continued: “Dr Abdullah has continued to maintain his innocence in the matter and has cooperated with the investigative agencies and will do so in this case as well. It’s also not a coincidence that the only leaders targeted in J&K belong to the PAGD (People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration) alliance parties.”
The PAGD is a seven-party alliance, including NC and People’s Democratic Party that was formed after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped in 2019.
Besides Abdullah, former JKCA office-bearers, including general secretary Mohammed Saleem Khan and former treasurer Ahsan Ahmad Mirza, have also been booked in the case.
The ED has alleged that Abdullah had “misused” his position as JKCA president in the past and made appointments in the sports body so that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)-sponsored funds could be laundered.
The ED case is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2015, which accused Abdullah of conniving with others in misappropriation of funds.
The ED had also attached residential and commercial properties of Abdullah worth nearly ₹12 crore in December 2020, prompting the NC leader to move Jammu and Kashmir high court.
The former chief minister alleged that the properties attached were not related to the alleged crime and were either ancestral or acquired before the offence.
Abdullah has also been probed by CBI in the case.