Delhi court orders release of Amanatullah Khan, refuses to accept ED complaint

A Delhi court on Thursday refused to take cognizance of a supplementary prosecution complaint (similar to a chargesheet in police cases) filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case.

Special Judge Jitendra Singh observed that though there are “sufficient grounds" to proceed against Khan, it cannot take cognizance due to lack of mandatory government sanction as per Section 197 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Section 197 of the CrPC provides that when a public servant commits an offence while acting in discharge of his official duty, no court shall take cognizance of such offence, except with previous sanction of the competent government.

The Court noted that government sanction is a necessary requirement to take cognizance in this case, since Khan is a public servant against whom the corruption charges were made in discharge of his office duties as the Delhi Waqf Board chairman.

“Perusal of record reveals that as such no sanction from the competent authority/Government has been placed on record against A-6. Thus, cognizance against A-6 is declined for the offence defined u/s 3 and punishable u/s 4 of the PMLA for the lack of requisite sanction in terms of Section 197 (1) of Cr.P.C.,” the order stated.

The Court called for Khan's releasing, while stating,

 “In the case in hand, there is no legal ground to justify further detention of the accused in custody. Keeping the accused in custody in these circumstances when the cognizance has been declined for the absence of sanction u/s 197 (1) Cr.P.C., shall tantamount to illegal custody. Under these circumstances, the accused has to be immediately,” the court ordered.

The money laundering case against Khan relates to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board recruitment process and purchase of properties while he was Chairman of the Board.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau first booked him in the case, after which the ED registered the money laundering case against him.

Khan was arrested by the ED on September 2 after his plea for anticipatory bail was rejected first by the Delhi High Court and then by the Supreme Court.

He then moved the High Court challenging the legality and validity of his arrest and remand.

With respect to Khan’s wife Mariyam Siddiqui, the ED claimed that she directly, knowingly and actively assisted Khan in the possession, concealment, use of proceeds of crime.

The Court held that the supplementary prosecution complaint contains no evidence regarding the culpability of the wife, and refused to summon her.

“The case against A-7 is apparently based upon surmises and conjectures as there exists no evidence whether direct or circumstantial against her. The SPC lacks grounds for proceeding against A-7. Accordingly, she is not summoned in the present case."

[Read order]