AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan sent to 4-day ED custody

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday night remanded AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan to four-day ED custody in a money laundering case, observing that the material placed on record showed that offence was committed under the PMLA.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) 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 (PMLA) 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).

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.