Waqf Board money laundering case: Court grants three days custody of three accused to ED

The agency arrested three accused- Jishan Haider, Dawood Nasir and Javed Imam Siddiqui on Saturday in connection with a money-laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of staff for the Delhi Waqf Board as part of a money laundering investigation involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan.

The Rouse Avenue court on Monday granted three days' custody of three accused Jishan Haider, Dawood Nasir and Javed Imam Siddiqui to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The agency arrested three accused- Jishan Haider, Dawood Nasir and Javed Imam Siddiqui on Saturday in connection with a money-laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of staff for the Delhi Waqf Board as part of a money laundering investigation involving Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanat Ullah Khan.

As per ED, the money laundering case pertains to sell purchase of land for Rs. 13.40 crores. It is alleged that the transaction involves proceeds of crime. The agency has alleged that they have been arrested in a case sale- purchasing of property by ill-gotten money from Amanat Ullah Khan.

The accused persons were produced before the expiry of two days of judicial custody. Special Judge Arvind Kumar granted custody of the accused to ED for three days.

The federal agency sought 14 days of custody remand of all accused. It was also submitted that the accused persons were not cooperating in the investigation and were evasive in their replies.

The ED argued that in the transaction, ill-gotten money was used and Rs 4 crores were paid in cash. The Special public prosecutor for ED, Manish Jain submitted that there is sufficient ground for the arrest of accused persons and the grounds of arrest were communicated to them.

The amount of transacted money which was paid in cash was ill-gotten by Amanat Ullah. "What is the evidence?" the court asked, and to this, Counsel for ED said there is a diary of Qausar Imam Siddiqui in which there was an entry of Rs 8 crores.

"Is it related to Amanat Ullah?" the court further asked. ED said, "Yes. We will show the court. Siddiqui was a middleman."

The agency's counsel further submitted that a remand of 14 days is required for two major reasons. One is the confrontation of accused persons with each other. Data culled out also required to be confronted. It is alleged that Javed Imam got this property through a sale deed. He sold the property for Rs. 13.40 crore. Jishan paid money in cash to Javed Imam.

On the other hand, Advocate Nitish Rana appeared for Jishan Haider. He argued that arrest is illegal. The accused were called to the ED office on November 10 at 11 AM. They were arrested on 12 November after a period of 24 hours The defence counsel accused were made to sit for more than 24 hours. Thereafter they were arrested. Arrest is illegal and therefore they should be released.

Advocate Rana argued that there is an Agreement to Sell (ATS). Rs 9 crores have been paid through banking channels while Rs 4 crore is to be paid. He further argued that Jishan Haider joined the investigation four times. The only allegations are there another ATS was recovered from him.

He argued that After 7 years you (ED) are registering a case and investigating. The alleged proceeds of crime were generated seven years back. He submitted that Amanat Ullah Khan and Qausar Siddiqui are on bail.

The LOC against Javed Imam Siddiqui was quashed on November 8 by the concerned court. Three days before the arrest, Rana argued. He submitted that let them be in judicial custody as the matter is coming for a hearing on November 16 before the concerned court.

Defence counsel contended that first of all, the question of illegal custody is to be decided. "It is my suggestion," Defence counsel said, asking further, "How did you make him sit the whole night in the ED office without arresting."

ED's special public prosecutor (SPP) submitted that the accused persons came at 12 noon on November 10 and the next day at 11.30 am they were arrested. "Let the record be produced including pass and CCTV footage of ED office," Rana argued, adding that no accused can be detained more than 24 hours without the permission of the court.

"Accused were arrested three hours after the lapse of a period of 24 hours. At around 2.30 PM and produced before the court at 3.30 PM. Non-cooperation and being evasive is not a ground for arrest," he added, questioning the ED for seeking police custody after an illegal detention of more than 24 hours. Defence counsel also submitted that Jishan Haider is 64, has undergone an open heart surgery, and has been advised for angiography as he is a diabetic.

He further argued that the requirement of Section 19 of PMLA is not satisfied as there is no sufficient and cogent evidence to conclude that the suspect is guilty of money laundering. He also referred to the High Court rules which say custody should be demanded for extracting statements from the Accused.

There has to be some evidence that Amanat Ullah earned the money from proceeds of crime, Rana argued. Counsel for Dawood Nasir adopted the arguments of Nitesh Rana. However, he submitted that Dawood has had severe lower back pain for the last ten years.

A charge sheet was filed by the CBI without arresting Amanat Ullah Khan who is the main accused, counsel argued. Advocate further argued that thereafter, an FIR was registered by the ACB.

My client Dawood Nasir has no connection with Amanat Ullah Khan and the agency found nothing from my premises during the search, the counsel argued. Advocate Arjun Kakkar appeared for Javed Imam Siddiqui and submitted that the LOC against him was quashed on November 8.

"They summoned him on November 9. On November 10 at 11 Am they made him sit till 11 Am the next day. Javed Imam has been an NRI Dubai for the last 15 years. He came to India for heart treatment," he said. Advocate Kakkar argued that the ED has interrogated Javed more than 15 times.

He submitted that Agreement to Sell (ATS) in 2021. CBI's FIR is from 2017. They arrested Javed just because the LOC against me was quashed. (ANI)

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