Srinagar, March 5, KNT: A court in Srinagar has dismissed an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking addition of further charges in a case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), while holding that the agency has no locus standi to seek such relief in the matter.
The order was passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Srinagar, who observed that the case is being investigated and prosecuted by the CBI, and therefore the ED cannot seek to add offences in the charge sheet.
The case pertains to FIR No. 05/2015, registered by the CBI under Sections 120-B, 406 and 409 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) against several accused persons including Mohammad Saleem Khan, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza, Bashir Ahmad Misgar and Dr Farooq Abdullah, among others.
Two accused persons in the case — Manzoor Gazanfar Ali and Gulzar Ahmad Beigh — had earlier been granted pardon during the course of the trial, the court noted.
The Enforcement Directorate had approached the court seeking the addition of offences under Sections 411 and 414 IPC, invoking powers under Section 216 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
However, the court observed that the ED is neither the investigating agency nor the prosecuting authority in the case, and therefore cannot independently seek the addition of charges.
The court also noted that the application lacked clarity and referred to provisions that were either inconsistent or no longer applicable.
Observing that the ED can initiate proceedings only when there exists a predicate offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the court said such offences must first be investigated and established by the competent investigating agency.
In the present case, the court said no such scheduled offence had been incorporated in the charge sheet filed by the CBI, and therefore the ED could not assume jurisdiction.
Consequently, the court dismissed the application filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
Meanwhile, after examining the material on record, the court held that prima facie evidence exists against the accused persons under Sections 120-B, 406 and 409 RPC, warranting the framing of charges.
The court has listed the matter on March 12 for formal framing of charges, after which the statements of the approvers in the case will be recorded as part of the trial proceedings. [KNT]
