BJP welcomes filing of chargesheet in JKCA scam

The BJP today welcomed the filing of chargesheet by the CBI in the multi-crore scam in Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) and said the dubious track record in such high-profile cases would be broken and the guilty punished this time.

The Central Bureau of Investigation yesterday filed the chargesheet against former J&K chief minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and three others for allegedly misappropriating over Rs 43 crore from grants given by the BCCI to the JKCA for promoting cricket in the state between 2002 to 2011.

"Jammu & Kashmir has a dubious track record that so far not even a single person has been convicted in high-profile corruption cases involving politician, minister or a senior bureaucrat. Hopefully, this dubious trend will be broken and the guilty punished this time," spokesperson of J&K unit of BJP Anil Gupta said in a statement here.

Demanding action against those "roaming freely", he said corruption has been one of the main causes of poor governance and disenchantment among the youth in the state.

"Despite numerous corruption cases recorded by the State Vigilance Organisation and the Crime Branch of state police, the big fishes continue to roam freely. In certain cases despite availability of open evidence against the accused ministers and bureaucrats, no action has been taken and cases are pending for a decade or more," said the former brigadier of the Army.

Gupta said there was an "endless list of corruption cases and scams against 11 leaders and ex-ministers of the National Conference and Congress".

Listing various cases of corruption which have come to light, including Rs 25,000 crore Roshni scam, he said his party appeals to Governor N N Vohra to put these cases on fast track and ensure their just conclusion without any interference of the powerful and mighty.

"One of the main causes of anger and alienation among the youth in Kashmir is corruption taking demon's shape in the state and failure of the system to act against the corrupt," Gupta said.