19:36
A Delhi court on Tuesday rejected the interim bail
plea of Al-Falah University chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui, accused in a
Rs 493-crore money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement
Directorate (ED), saying that he failed to show that his wife required
his exclusive care during cancer treatment.
Additional Sessions
Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan was hearing the plea filed by Siddiqui
seeking six weeks' interim bail to look after his wife, who is suffering
from stage-4 metastatic ovarian cancer.
In an order, the court
said, "Applicant has failed to show that the wife is terminally ill or
is unable to take care of her daily routine and requires constant
support of the accused/applicant and further, that there is no other
adult member or caregiver, who cannot be made available for the wife".
The
court said that while Siddiqui's wife was undergoing treatment for a
serious ailment, medical records described her condition as stable and
did not indicate that she was terminally ill, bedridden or incapable of
managing her daily routine.
"It is expected from adult children
to take care of their parents in such emergent situation and it cannot
be said that the children cannot be a caregiver to their mother," the
court said.
Siddiqui was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime
Branch in February in connection with alleged financial and
administrative irregularities at Al-Falah University and was
subsequently taken into custody by the ED in March.
According to
the ED, the university allegedly deceived students and parents through
false claims of NAAC accreditation and UGC recognition, generating
proceeds of crime of around Rs 493.24 crore through fee collections.
The
agency alleged Siddiqui siphoned off funds from the Al-Falah Charitable
Trust into personal accounts and investment channels and used multiple
entities as conduits for laundering the money.
The university had
also come under scrutiny after it emerged that Dr Umar Nabi, accused of
carrying out the November 2025 Red Fort blast that killed 12 people,
had been employed by the institution.
Holding that alternative
caregivers were available and that the accused had failed to make out a
case for interim bail, the court dismissed the application. -- PTI
