Delhi court released AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan from a money laundering case pertaining to alleged fraud in Delhi Waqf Board.
On Thursday, the court gave releases that there was ample evidence to retain the case against Khan; but the former Delhi CM was not permitted to prosecute him or face the charges. Therefore, the court did not accept or even entertain the chargesheet filed in the ED case.
Judge Singh said that there was enough proof against Khan for the case to go on, and it could not be dismissed. However, the GoK failed to formally authorize the prosecution to prosecute him, which meant that the charges could not proceed in court at this time. Accordingly, the court quashed the order of judicial custody and set Khan free on bail, subject to a bond of ₹ 1,00,000 and a surety in the same amount.
The ED had filed a 110-page supplementary prosecution complaint on October 29, accusing Khan of money laundering the proceeds of corruption in the Delhi Waqf Board. The chargesheet had also named Mariam Siddiqui, but she was not arrested in connection with this case. Upon analyzing the presented evidence, the court realized there were no legal bases for S Siddiqui’s continuation in the case, so she was discharged.
Khan’s advocate, Rajat Bhardwaj talked to the media, confirming that the Delhi court has thrown out charges against Khan due to lack of proper sanction to proceed. He also said that there had not been summons to the court and Siddiqui owing to the absence of any evidence against her.
This legal step is a stage in the ongoing probe because it casts doubts about the prosecution’s capacity to go forward without legal sanction.
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