Delhi Court Sends AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan to Four-Day ED Custody

A Delhi court on Monday night remanded AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan to four-day ED custody in a money laundering case. The court observed that the material placed on record showed an offence was committed under the PMLA. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) produced Khan before Special Judge Rakesh Syal hours after his arrest from his home and sought his 10-day custody, stating he was required to be confronted with other accused and evidence in the case.

The judge rejected Khan's contention that the arrest was illegal and directed that his interrogation be conducted under CCTV surveillance. The court noted that criminal conspiracy cases involving financial irregularities, benami property purchases, and bribes are often hatched in secrecy and involve complex transactions. In such cases, custodial interrogation may be required for confrontation with various pieces of evidence to unearth the complete conspiracy.

Details of the Case

The diaries seized from Accused-4 Kausar Imam Siddiqui revealed that the properties in question were purchased for about Rs 36 crore, out of which Rs 27 crore was paid in cash and an amount of Rs 8.33 crore was paid by Khan. The court further noted that the property was worth Rs 36 crore while it was shown to be of Rs 13.40 crore. It observed that the purchaser of the property did not have the financial capacity to purchase it and Khan had purchased the property in the name of his benamidars.

The ED had descended for a search at Khan's residence just after 6 am. The money laundering probe against Khan stems from two FIRs, one registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi Wakf Board-related irregularities and another by the Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch related to a case of alleged possession of disproportionate assets. The ED told the court that some questions were put to Khan during the search but he remained evasive and hence was arrested. The agency said that Khan is the main accused. Proceeds of crime have been used and laundered to buy property. Cash was also used, it alleged.

Accusations and Arrest

There was an attempt to misguide the agency, the ED told the court, accusing Khan of non-cooperation, saying that 14 summonses were issued to him and he appeared only once, that too after the Supreme Court's direction. Khan is among several AAP leaders who have been arrested by the federal agency in different money laundering cases, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and former minister Satyendar Jain. Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are now out of jail on bail.

A purported video showed Khan sitting on a bed near his mother-in-law who he said had recently undergone surgery. An unconfirmed video showed Khan telling an ED officer standing outside his locked gate that he knows they want to arrest him. Khan in a statement said that his mother-in-law is a cancer patient who underwent surgery four days ago and he had sought four weeks' time from the ED for her treatment.

"Today, these people have come to arrest me. Will the ED deputy director take responsibility in front of the SHO that if they arrest me, it will not have a bad effect on my mother-in-law's health and she will not die?" the MLA said in a video message posted on X before his arrest.

Previous Investigations

Khan claimed he has fully cooperated with the ED. "Earlier in this case, the ACB and the CBI have also done their investigation and given me a clean chit. The ED had searched my house in this case on 10 October 2023," he said. The ED, which had conducted raids on his premises earlier too, has claimed Khan acquired huge proceeds of crime in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Wakf Board and invested those to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.

The agency had alleged in a statement that illegal recruitment of staff took place in the Wakf Board and illegal personal gains were made by unfairly leasing Wakf Board properties during Khan's chairmanship from 2018-2022. The agency filed a charge sheet in this case in January and named four people including three alleged associates of Khan -- Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui.

Khan is scheduled to be produced again on September 6 as per court orders.