Explainer: Why AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan is facing heat over Delhi Waqf Board case

New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Delhi’s political scene has once again heated up after AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested following the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at his house in Delhi’s Okhla on Monday.

The ED conducted a raid in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment of staff for the Delhi Waqf Board. The team was accompanied by Delhi Police and CRPF personnel.

Amanatullah Khan took to social media early in the morning, posting a video on X to inform the public about the raid. Sources indicated that the raid was part of a broader money laundering investigation into the alleged irregular recruitment practices in the Delhi Waqf Board. The ED conducted these raids under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In response, AAP leaders rallied behind Khan, with Manish Sisodia accusing the BJP and the ED of attempting to stifle dissent. “This is the only work left for the ED: to suppress every voice raised against the BJP. Break it. Arrest and imprison those who do not break or surrender,” Sisodia stated.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh also criticised the ED’s actions, labelling them “ruthless”. He pointed out that Khan had recently cooperated with the ED’s investigation and had requested more time due to his mother-in-law’s serious illness. The BJP seized on the opportunity to criticise AAP following the raid, accusing the party of widespread corruption, particularly in the recruitment of staff for the Delhi Waqf Board.

The controversy traces back to September of the previous year when Amanatullah Khan, the MLA representing Delhi’s Okhla constituency, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) over alleged financial misappropriation and other irregularities in the functioning of the Delhi Waqf Board.

At the time, AAP accused the BJP of targeting its leaders, linking the police action to the upcoming Gujarat elections. The BJP, in turn, launched a fierce attack, demanding that the accused MLA be immediately removed from office.

Beyond the political mudslinging, let us have a look into what were the financial irregularities that led to Amanatullah Khan’s arrest.

Amanatullah Khan was arrested by the ED in April in connection with the case but was later granted bail by the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court, which set the bail amount at a personal bond of Rs 15,000 and one surety of the same amount.

According to the ACB, the first FIR in this case was registered in January 2020 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, in conjunction with Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Subsequently, Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 409 of the IPC were added to the case.

During the investigation, a witness came forward regarding the tenancy of Waqf properties. This individual informed the ACB that in 2021, he had submitted a bid for a Waqf Board shop at Fatehpuri Masjid. His bid, amounting to Rs 30,000, was the highest, and he was summoned to the Delhi Waqf Board office to complete the formalities.

However, he was asked to pay a sum of Rs 10 lakh, which he refused. Consequently, he was directed to withdraw from the bidding process. Amanatullah Khan then accepted a lower bid of Rs 19,000 from another bidder, resulting in a financial loss to the Delhi Waqf Board, as noted by the Investigative Officer in court.

The ACB also obtained a statement from a female employee of the Delhi Waqf Board, who alleged that files related to the Waqf Assets Management System of India (WAMSI) project were removed at Khan’s behest. She claimed Khan did not want transparency in matters related to Waqf Board properties as it would expose his alleged illegal activities.

The WAMSI project was introduced by the government to computerize Waqf Board properties. Following the two-year-old case, the ACB summoned Khan on September 16 while conducting parallel raids at four locations associated with him, uncovering incriminating material at multiple sites.

After these raids, Khan was arrested and initially placed in four-day police custody.

On September 21, a local court extended Khan’s police custody by five days, as the ACB argued that they had only been able to interrogate him for two of the four days due to his deteriorating health, which required hospitalisation. The court extended custody, citing the need for further interrogation.

In October 2023, the ED also conducted searches at several locations linked to Khan in connection with the Waqf Board case.

According to ED sources, the agency alleged that Khan had acquired ‘huge proceeds of crime’ in cash through illegal staff recruitment at the Delhi Waqf Board, which he then used to purchase immovable assets in the names of his associates.

The ED stated that the October searches were related to the illegal recruitment of staff at the Delhi Waqf Board and Khan’s alleged personal gains from unfairly leasing Waqf Board properties during his chairmanship between 2018 and 2022.

In January, the ED conducted additional searches at over nine locations connected to Khan, probing money laundering charges linked to the Delhi Waqf Board case.

In February, the Delhi High Court denied immediate relief to Khan against the ED summons in a Rs 36 crore property case, which came to light through diaries belonging to his close aide Hamid Ali Khan, suggesting high-level transactions between Amanatullah Khan and Javed Imam Siddiqui, including the purchase of a Rs 36 crore plot in Tikona Park, Okhla. Hamid Ali Khan was arrested by Delhi Police’s anti-corruption branch unit in September 2022

Later that month, Amanatullah Khan withdrew his plea from the Delhi High Court challenging the ED summons in the property case.

In April, the Supreme Court refused to grant relief to Khan, expressing displeasure over his repeated absences from ED summonses.

Days after the Supreme Court’s decision, the ED interrogated Khan for 13 hours and subsequently informed the Rouse Avenue Court that it would not withdraw its complaint against Khan for “non-compliance” with its summons in the money laundering case, which ultimately led to his arrest.

–IANS

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