A city court on Thursday issued an order for the release of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board case. Special Judge Jitendra Singh issued the order after accepting his bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of like amount.
Earlier in the day, Special Judge Jitendra Singh ordered Khan's release in the case while refusing to take cognisance of a chargesheet filed against him.The judge said while there was sufficient evidence against Khan to proceed against him, there was no requisite sanction to prosecute him. "Therefore, the cognisance is declined," the judge said.
"Thus, cognisance against A-6 (Khan) is declined for the offence defined under section 3 (money laundering) and punishable under section 4 of the PMLA for the lack of requisite sanction," the judge said while noting that Khan was a "public servant".He further said that in the case, "there is no legal ground to justify further detention of the accused in custody".
"Keeping the accused in custody in these circumstances when the cognisance has been declined for the absence of sanction under section 197 (1) CrPC, shall tantamount to illegal custody. Under these circumstances, the accused has to be immediately released," the judge said. Special Judge Singh further issued an order for the release of Khan in the case after accepting his bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of like amount, "for securing his presence in case the sanction is obtained and filed by the complainant (ED) in future".
The court also denied taking cognisance of the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Khan in the case. Khan has been in judicial custody for two months. With his release, all AAP leaders will be out of jail.
Addressing a press conference, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that Khan's bail in the Delhi Waqf matter has exposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "false case". "The money-laundering case has become a drama and a weapon of the BJP. I repeatedly tell Prime Minister Modi that if he is so full of anger, resentment and hatred, thenhe should make us stand at a crossroads and have us shot," Singh said in a statement. He also claimed that the probe agencies had lost all credibility.
"Bail to Amanat. Once again, Modi's false case has been exposed. Modi ji tried all his tricks but could not eliminate Arvind Kejriwal and AAP," Singh had earlier said in Hindi on X. Echoing his colleague, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said this was bound to happen.
"All AAP leaders are out now. The truth cannot be defeated and we are going to contest the Delhi elections with full strength," he said.
Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia has slammed the BJP for misusing the ED and CBI to falsely target AAP leaders, aiming to imprison them and disrupt elections.
The ED on October 29 filed a 110-page first supplementary prosecution complaint (ED's equivalent of a chargesheet), claiming Khan laundered money that was allegedly generated through corruption in the Delhi Waqf Board. The chargesheet had also named one Mariam Siddiqui, who was not arrested as an accused by the ED in the case.The court said there was no evidence to proceed against Siddiqui and discharged her.
