Delhi High Court denies bail to two accused in money laundering case involving AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has refused to grant bail to two persons arrested in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in Delhi Waqf Board recruitment, which also involves AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma dismissed bail pleas of accused Zeeshan Haider and Daud Nasir, saying there was sufficient material to attract the bar on grant of bail under the anti-money laundering law.

Both the accused were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2023.

In the order passed on July 1, Justice Sharma observed that Amanatullah Khan, as alleged, purchased immovable properties in the name of "benamidars", Haider and Nasir, by suppressing their actual value and actively concealing amounts that were paid in cash to the seller.

"The material evidence gathered during the course of the investigation by the Directorate of Enforcement reveals that Amanatullah Khan had hatched a criminal conspiracy along with his close associates i.e., the present applicants/accused and others and pursuant to the same, he had invested his ill-gotten money i.e. proceeds of crime, in the immovable properties through his associates namely Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and others," the court stated.

The court noted that there were transactions related to the purchase of the property, both in cash and through banking channels, totalling approximately Rs 36 crore.

"Thus, the material brought before this Court at this stage is sufficient to attract bar under Section 45 of PMLA on both the applicants. Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances, this Court does not find it a fit case for grant of regular bail to the present applicants i.e., Zeeshan Haider and Daud Nasir," concluded the court.

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

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 ED, which earlier conducted raids on the premises of the legislator, has claimed that 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.

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 has said.

Several "incriminating" materials 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.

In March, while disapproving the repeated evasion of summons of investigating agencies by public persons, the high court had refused to grant anticipatory bail to the AAP MLA in the case.