Omar Abdullah | KO File Photo
New Delhi: Former chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday termed the provisional attachment order of properties belonging to his father by the Enforcement Directorate as “baseless” and wondered how an ancestral property could be seen as proceeds of “crime”.
In a series of tweets, Omar, who is the vice president of the National Conference, said his father, Farooq Abdullah, “is in touch with his lawyers and will fight all these baseless charges in the one place that matters – a court of law”.
Dr Abdullah is in touch with his lawyers & will fight all these baseless charges in the one place that matters – a court of law, where everyone is presumed to be innocent & is entitled to a fair trial unlike in the court of the media or the court of BJP managed social media.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 19, 2020
He said everyone is presumed to be innocent and is entitled to a fair trial “unlike in the court of the media or the court of BJP managed social media”.
Omar expressed wonder that the properties attached are largely ancestral dating from the 1970s with the most recent one built before 2003.
“There can be no justification for the seizures because they fail the very basic test of having been acquired as the proceeds of the ‘crime’ being investigated,” he said.
He said that his father came to know about the attachment of his properties in the ongoing investigation into the JKCA matter through the media.
“Not surprisingly the media was tipped off regarding the seizure before he had received any official notice or documentation,” he said.
ED Move A ‘Political Vendetta’: Tarigami
Senior CPI(M) leader and former legislator M Y Tarigami on Saturday said attaching the property of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah is part of vindictive politics practiced by the central government to kill dissent and disagreement across the country.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 11.86 crore of the former chief minister and others in connection with its money laundering probe linked to alleged financial irregularities in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.
The media reports about ED attaching property of Farooq Abdullah is nothing but a political vendetta as the BJP government has been unnerved by the support of people to Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Deceleration (PAGD) in the just concluded District Development Council (DDC) polls, Tarigami said in a statement here.
PAGD is an alliance of seven mainstream parties including the National Conference, the PDP and the CPI(M), and is headed by Abdullah.
Attaching the property of Farooq Abdullah is part of vindictive politics practiced by the Central government to kill dissent and disagreement across the country and the present case has surfaced at a time when the DDC polls have just concluded, the CPI(M) leader said.
He said the BJP government must realise the dangers of witch-hunting and intimidation and desist from vindictive designs .
It is time for secular democratic forces across the country to raise their voice against such designs of the BJP government, Tarigami said.
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