ED gets 4-day custody of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in PMLA case

A Delhi court on Monday night remanded Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan to four-day Enforcement Directorate custody in a money laundering case, observing that the material placed on record showed that offence was committed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The Enforcement Directorate produced Khan before Special Judge Rakesh Syal hours after he was arrested from his home and sought his 10-day custody, stating he was required to be confronted with other accused and evidence in the case.

"Four-day ED custody, to be produced on September 6," said the judge who had earlier reserved its order on the ED's application.

The court rejected Khan's contention that the arrest was illegal and directed that his interrogation be conducted under CCTV.

The judge said it was well settled that criminal conspiracy cases pertaining to financial irregularities, benami purchase of properties, bribe etc are often hatched in secrecy and around a dark cover of complex transactions.

"In such cases, custodial interrogation may be required, inter-alia, for confrontation with various pieces of evidence to unearth the complete conspiracy," the judge said.

The judge noted that the material placed on record showed the commission of offence under PMLA.

"The diaries seized from accused-4 Kausar Imam Siddiqui reveal 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 the accused (Khan)," the judge noted.

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 50-year-old MLA from the Okhla assembly seat was taken into custody from his residence under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at 11.20 am.

The ED had descended for a search at his residence just after 6 am.

The money laundering probe against Khan stems from two FIRs, one registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation 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.

"There was an attempt to misguide the agency," the ED told the court and accused 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.

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 the Wakf Board properties during Khan's chairmanship (2018-2022).

Khan was taken away from his home in an official vehicle while a large crowd gathered outside and shouted slogans.

A security team of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Delhi Police were present inside and outside Khan's house during the action.

"Revolutionaries will not bow down to the tyranny of a dictator. The BJP's ED took Aam Aadmi Party MLA @KhanAmanatullah in custody in a false case. The more the BJP people tries to suppress us, the more vocal our voice will be," AAP said in a post on X in Hindi.

Khan had in a post at 6:29 am on his X handle stated that an ED team had reached his house in Okhla area to arrest him. AAP MP Sanjay Singh also posted a video.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia said the only work left for the ED is to "suppress every voice raised against the BJP and break it".

Those who do not break, are arrested and put in jail, he alleged.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva questioned why AAP leaders were "anxious" if Khan was innocent. In India, the rule of law prevails, and anyone who indulges in corruption has to be answerable for it, Sachdeva said, asking AAP leaders to introspect.

"The Aam Aadmi Party has a long list of criminals and corrupt individuals, and whenever action is taken against them, they start making noise. Today, once again, that drama has unfolded before everyone," he charged.

Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav alleged that the arrest was yet another example of the "deep-rooted corruption and cheating prevalent in the AAP government".

In a statement, Yadav alleged that Khan was perhaps the 19th AAP MLA to come under the scanner of probe agencies for corruption.

The Congress and AAP had fought the recent Lok Saba election in alliance in Delhi but the BJP had bagged all seven seats.

The Delhi Congress had complained to the Lieutenant Governor nearly three years ago about Khan's corruption in the Delhi Waqf Board, following which the probe agencies were put on his trail, and the ED arrest was a culmination of that process, Yadav claimed.

The ED had alleged in a statement that "illegal recruitment" of staff took place in the Waqf Board and "illegal personal gains" were made by unfairly leasing the Waqf Board properties during Khan's chairmanship (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.

The Anti Corruption Branch and the ED filed cases in the matter and Khan got bail after arrest by the ACB.

The ED raided his house in 2023 but nothing was found, and in 2024 he was interrogated for 13 hours by the agency, claimed Sanjay Singh.

He said this "bullying" by the BJP would cost the party dearly in the Delhi assembly polls.