HC trashes AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan's plea against bad character tag

Delhi HC dismisses plea by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan against Delhi Police decision naming him as "bad character".

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan against the decision of the city police to declare him a "bad character". Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, however, said he will have the liberty to make a representation before the authorities concerned to remove the bad character tag.

The judge, while pronouncing the verdict, said the DCP concerned has given reasons in support of the action against the Delhi lawmaker as per law. The Delhi Police had declared Khan, the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Okhla, a bad character last year. Khan's lawyer had contended the authorities acted in absolutely malafide manner and claimed the replica of the history sheet, which is a confidential document, was shared on social media by a spokesperson for a rival political party to malign his image.

The Delhi Police, on the other hand, had argued that due procedure was followed by the competent authorities to arrive at the decision. They contended sufficient material was not placed before the court to prove malafide on their part. Police said applicable rules were duly followed by the authorities and the decision was arrived at in view of the material on record and after application of mind.

The proposal for declaring Khan a bad character was sent on March 28 by the Jamia Nagar police station in Southeast district and approved on March 30. A total of 18 FIRs have been registered against Khan, the document had stated. According to police, a person who is involved in multiple criminal cases, including murder and attempt to murder, and can disturb peace in an area, can be designated a bad character. (PTI)