Waqf Board Case: AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan's Plea Challenging ED Summons Withdrawn From Delhi High Court

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan on Wednesday withdrew from the Delhi High Court his plea challenging the summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case connected to the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board recruitment.

A division bench comprising Justice Rekha Palli and Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar dismissed the plea as withdrawn.

Khan had challenged the FIR registered by the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi as well as the summons and investigation in the matter.

He also sought reading down or reading into Section 50 of PMLA, 2002, “in consonance and consistence with” the Supreme Court judgement in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union Of India & Ors.

It was his case that there was apprehension that the power and authority vested with the ED may be rendered as an instrument of misuse and abuse by virtue of deliberate misinterpretation of the provisions of PMLA.

“The provisions are being used to persecute and demolish the very basic fabric of the democratic and federal structure of this country, as the Petitioner is being roped into frivolous and baseless proceedings,” the plea stated.

The case alleges that Amanatullah Khan, while working as chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, illegally recruited various people in violation of norms and government guidelines.

The ED has alleged that Khan acquired huge proceeds of crime in cash from illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested the same to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.

ED filed a chargesheet against five entities, including three alleged associates of Amanatullah Khan namely Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui, who were arrested by the central agency in November last year.

Title: AMANATULLAH KHAN v. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS