Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 17: High Court has stayed the FIR against the JK Cricket Association (JKCA) Incharge and former Ranji player registered by the Crime Branch (Economic Offences Wing of the J&K Police) in relation to an age (Date of Birth) fraud case during his playing days for Jammu and Kashmir.
Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal after hearing the BCCI counsel Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi, who has fairly conceded that the preliminary inquiry cannot continue beyond the period as has been prescribed by the Apex Court and the inquiry which is being prolonged for more than three years, has no relevance in the eyes of law cannot be relied upon at such a belated stage.
“Prima facie case for indulgence is made out. Meanwhile, subject to objections from the other side and till next date of hearing before the Bench, the FIR No. 26/2023 dated 25.05.2023 which is impugned in the present petition shall stay”, Justice Nargal directed
The FIR impugned was the outcome of the complaint against JKCA official-Majid Yaqoob Dar filed by the former Chief Executive Officer of JKCA-Ashiq Hussain Bukhari for committing fraud in his age during his playing days.
It is stated that petitioner-Dar had played for the JKCA from 2000 to 2014 in BCCI-sponsored national tournaments and had submitted a fraudulent date of birth certificate in 2013 and had been playing cricket with different birth certificates since 2004.
The FIR further revealed that during the registration for the Ranji Trophy in 2013, Dar had presented a Date of Birth Certificate indicating his birth date as December 30, 1978, while his actual date of birth is December 30, 1970-an investigation was initiated by the Crime Branch Kashmir based on these allegations.
Dar is serving as the JKCA Srinagar Incharge since June 16, 2021, appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). His counsel submitted before the court that the preliminary enquiry into the complaint filed by the JKCA is going on for last three years, as such the preliminary enquiry is being conducted beyond a maximum period of six weeks and as such, the said preliminary enquiry is vide ab-initio in the light of law.
He has further submitted that there is a delay of seventeen years of filing of the complaint from the alleged cause of action and the said delay is fatal to the rights of the accused and accordingly has prayed that the complaint along with preliminary inquiry and FIR be quashed.
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