The Supreme Court on Monday declined to grant anticipatory bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and a law maker in Delhi assembly, Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case relating to the alleged irregularities in the Waqf Board during his chairmanship.
Cautioning the Directorate of Enforcement against unnecessarily exercising its powers to arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said that Amanatullah Khan should not be arrested unless there is sufficient material against him.
“You arrest him in case there is material. In case, there is no material, do not arrest him. You have to follow Section 19 of the PMLA. Right to arrest should not be taken for granted,” the bench told the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju who represented the Enforcement Directorate in the case.
Having voiced its caution, the bench directed Amanatullah Khan to appear before ED on April 18, 2024, at 11 am. The bench further said that following Amanatullah Khan’s appearance on April 18, the ED’s application before Special Court for the issuance of the non-bailable warrants against him shall be withdrawn.
“It is pointed out by the senior advocate appearing for the petitioner that ED has filed an application for the issuance of non-bailable warrants before the Special Court. He stated that the petitioner would appear before the officers of ED on April 18, 2024, at 11 am… In case the petitioner appears, the ED shall withdraw the application filed before the Special Court”, the bench said in its order.
At the outset of the hearing as senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary appearing for Amanatullah Khan sought to address the court, Justice Khanna observed, “You have messed up your whole matter by not responding to the summons. Repeatedly summons were issued, how can we condone that?”
The bench said that it was not inclined to issue a notice on the plea for anticipatory bail as it has declined it.
The top court was hearing an appeal against March 11, 2024, Delhi High Court order declining anticipatory bail to Amanatullah Khan in money laundering case arising from alleged irregularities in the recruitment to the Delhi Waqf Board and the leasing of Waqf properties during 2018-2022.
Disapproving repeated disregard of the summonses by ED six times, the High Court had said that legislators should know that disobeying the law will lead to legal consequences as all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law and an “MLA or a public figure is not above the law of the land”.
The money laundering case against Amanatullah Khan arises from an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation and three complaints by Delhi police. The allegations relate to the period when
Amanatullah Khan the Chairman of the Waqf Board.