The Rouse Avenue court in Delhi on Thursday, November 14, declined to take cognizance of a chargesheet filed against AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board.
The court directed Khan be released from judicial custody on a bail bond of ₹1 lakh and one surety of the same amount.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh said while there was sufficient evidence against Khan to proceed against him, there was no sanction to prosecute him.
The court added that there was no evidence against Amanatullah Khan's second wife, Mariam Siddiqui (named in the chargesheet), and she was also discharged.
Earlier, on October 29, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a 110-page first supplementary prosecution complaint (the ED's equivalent to a chargesheet), claiming Khan laundered money that was allegedly generated through corruption in the Delhi Waqf Board. The ED informed the court that the proceeds of the crime were invested in property worth ₹36 crore, acquired in Okhla under Khan's direction, with ₹27 crore paid in cash.
The ED arrested Khan on September 2 from his Okhla residence.
On November 13, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court reserved its orders on whether to take cognizance of the supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED in the case. The Special Judge Jitendra Singh had reserved the order after hearing arguments from the ED, which claimed there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the accused persons in the case.
When the Special Judge questioned ED about how Khan was connected to the money laundering offence, it cited a diary and WhatsApp chats, pointing out that Khan's name appeared multiple times in the diary, written by Kausar Imam Siddiqui, along with matching financial transactions.
Counsel for AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, Rajat Bhardwaj, said, “The court has declined to take cognizance against Amanatullah Khan because there was no sanction against him, and the court has directed his release with the surety of ₹1 lakh. There's no evidence against accused number seven, Mariam Siddiqui, therefore, no summons have been issued against her.”
(With inputs from ANI)
