Delhi HC denies anticipatory bail to AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in money-laundering case

New Delhi: Disapproving repeated evasion of summonses of investigating agencies by public persons, Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant anticipatory bail to AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a money-laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Waqf Board during his chairmanship.

Noting that the Okhla MLA did not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) despite six summonses, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said 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".

"This court wonders whether a person's plea of being busy with personal or official work can be a valid ground on several occasions to avoid summons on the ground that he is a public person. The answer in this court's opinion has to be in the negative," the court said in its order.

"The applicant, despite being summoned on six occasions till date, has not joined (the) investigation and cooperated with the investigating agency. Though a list of documents was also supplied by the agency to the applicant, the applicant has failed to submit those documents with the investigating agency. This court does not find it a fit case for grant of pre-arrest bail to the present applicant Amanatullah Khan," it ruled.

The high court acknowledged the right of an investigating agency to conduct a probe and asserted that it is for the public figure to "find time and appear," pursuant to any summons issued to him.

The money-laundering case against Khan stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints.

The ED, which earlier conducted raids on the premises of the legislator, has claimed Khan acquired "huge proceeds of crime" in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested those to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.

Justice Sharma said the material on record is sufficient to prima facie show that the offence of money laundering was committed by Khan, whose failure to cooperate with the investigating agency "sets a perilous precedent" and it os crucial that he joins and cooperates with the investigation.

"The material evidences so gathered during the course of investigation under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) revealed that the applicant Amanatullah Khan has acquired huge cash amounts, being the proceeds of crime out of criminal activities relating to his corrupt and illegal activities relating to illegal recruitment of the persons in Delhi Waqf Board, leasing out the properties of Delhi Waqf Board in unfair and illegal manner, misappropriation of Delhi Waqf Board funds, including others, while being the public servant ie chairman of Delhi Waqf Board and MLA from Okhla Legislative Assembly of Delhi during the period from 2015 onwards," the court stated.

It opined that the AAP leader's non-compliance with investigative protocols cannot be overlooked when an investigating agency has the right to conduct an investigation and perform their duties on behalf of citizens without any intimidation, influence or avoidance by the public figure.

The court emphasised that "repeated disobedience of summons" is equivalent to obstruction of investigation and interferes with the administration of justice and ultimately leads to erosion of trust and confidence in the criminal justice system and anarchy.

If such a conduct is legitimised, the court added, it will compromise future investigations as it forms the public opinion that skipping multiple summonses of any investigating agency is permissible in law.

"In a case where a person who has systematically and repeatedly avoided summons of the investigating agency, extending relief of grant of anticipatory bail to him, in face of prosecuting agency having been able to place on record prima facie material which needs to be confronted with the accused by joining investigation, involving allegations of money laundering and misuse of public money etc, which are serious in nature, will amount to trivialising the alleged offence and the attendant message to the public that there is no need to obey the law ie responding to the summons and joining investigation which is a requirement of law," the court said.

The court also rejected Khan's allegation of "institutional bias", saying there was no material to support his claim.

The Okhla MLA had approached the high court after his application for pre-arrest bail in the case was rejected by a trial court on March 1.

Khan was not named as an accused in the charge sheet that the ED filed recently.

The agency has named five people in its prosecution complaint (the ED's equivalent of a charge sheet) that included three alleged associates of Khan -- Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui.

The searches were conducted in the case related to illegal recruitment of staff and illegitimate personal gains made by the accused by way of unfairly leasing Waqf Board properties during 2018-2022 when Khan was its chairperson, the ED said.

Several "incriminating" material in the form of physical and digital evidence were seized during the raids, indicating Khan's involvement in the offence of money laundering, the ED has said.