New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday refused to entertain an anticipatory bail plea of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said the court is not inclined to entertain the present special leave petition by Khan seeking anticipatory bail. The bench said that there were some observations made in the impugned judgment (March 11 verdict of the Delhi High Court) and "interpretation of section 50 of the PMLA and some observations on merit. We clarify that the observations in the impugned judgment would not be treated as observations in the case…”.
The apex court asked Khan to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on April 18 at 11 am in the case. “Let him appear. You can arrest him in case there is material, if there is no material do not arrest him….you have to follow the procedure under section 19 (PMLA)”, Justice Khanna told additional solicitor general (ASG) S V Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The apex court made it clear that it should not be taken for granted that if he appears, he will be arrested.
The bench also observed that Khan should have responded to the ED summons. The counsel, representing Khan, assured the court that his client will join the probe on April 18.
The apex court also clarified that the observations made in the high court judgment should not be treated as findings on merit relating to the evidence and material relied upon by the respondent. “The counsel for the petitioner states that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) have been issued against Khan by the special court….”, noted the bench.
The apex court said, “In case, the petitioner appears before the respondent on April 18. The respondent will withdraw the application filed before the special court…”.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Okhla MLA against the high court order. Khan moved the high court after his application for anticipatory bail in the case was turned down by a trial court on March 1. He was not named as an accused in the charge sheet that the ED filed recently.
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 said that searches were conducted in the case related to illegal recruitment of staff and alleged illegitimate personal gains made by the accused by way of unfairly leasing Waqf Board properties during 2018-2022 when Khan was its chairperson. The ED has claimed that several “incriminating” materials in the form of physical and digital evidence were seized during the raids, indicating Khan’s involvement in a money laundering offense.
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