14 J&K politicians face charges of corruption, misusing power

As many as 14 politicians, including two Congress ministers in the Omar Abdullah-led government and nine former ministers, are facing cases of corruption or misuse of power in Jammu and Kashmir's defunct State Accountability Commission (SAC).

However, they are yet to face the law as eight of them have obtained stay on proceedings from the high court, while complaints against others are pending as the state government has not been able to appoint the chairman and the members of the commission, official sources said.

There are a total of eighteen complaints against them.

Two complaints each have been registered before the commission against public health engineering minister Taj Mohiuddin, education minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed (both from Congress) and former agriculture minister and opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Aziz Zargar, they said.

Other Congress politicians who have complaints pending against them include former deputy chief minister Mangat Ram Sharma, his colleague in Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led council of ministers Suman Lata Bhagat, former ministers Ramesh Kumar and Abdul Majid Wani, they said.

Among these leaders, only Wani is a member of the current Legislative Assembly.

Congress Legislature Party leader in the state assembly Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam is facing charges of encroaching over 50 hectares of state land in Surankote area of Poonch district, the sources said.

The other former ministers facing corruption charges in the SAC include PDP leaders Tariq Hamid Karra and Abdul Gaffar Sofi, who is a sitting MLA from Homshalibugh, they said.