New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on a plea by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan seeking anticipatory bail in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in staff recruitment and leasing of assets by the Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship.
The Okhla MLA approached the high court after his application for pre-arrest bail in the case, which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), was rejected by a trial court here last week.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma reserved the verdict after hearing the counsels for Khan and the ED.
“Arguments concluded. Order reserved,” the judge said.
The money laundering case stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints.
The ED, which earlier conducted raids on the premises of the legislator, has claimed that Khan acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested those to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.
While senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Khan, said no case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was made out against him, ED counsel Zoheb Hossain said the anticipatory bail has already been rejected by the trial court through a “detailed and well-reasoned order”.
Hossain said Khan, a “high-handed individual” who was earlier declared “bad character” by police, has been evading summons in the case and cannot be given the relief of pre-arrest bail.
He said there was “material evidence” against the legislator and the ED has the statutory right to arrest or not arrest an accused.
“Petitioner has skipped seven summons. Non-appearance is a relevant factor while deciding whether to grant anticipatory bail or not,” Hossain said.
Objecting to the federal agency’s claim that the MLA has criminal antecedents, Sibal said Khan has been acquitted or discharged in most of the cases against him.
The senior lawyer further said the AAP leader did not appear before the ED as he was already pursuing his legal remedies.
On March 1, Special Judge Rakesh Syal had denied anticipatory bail to Khan, saying there was no reasonable ground to believe that he was not guilty of the offence of money laundering.
Khan was not named as an accused in a charge sheet filed recently by the ED.
The agency has named five people in its prosecution complaint (the ED’s equivalent of a charge sheet) including three alleged associates of Khan — Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui.
The ED had earlier said that searches were conducted in the case related to illegal recruitment of staff and illegitimate personal gains made by the accused by way of unfairly leasing Waqf Board properties during 2018-2022 when Khan was its chairperson.
Several “incriminating” materials in the form of physical and digital evidence were seized during the raids, indicating Khan’s involvement in the offence of money laundering, it had said.
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