AAP MLA from Okhla Amanatullah Khan. (Express Archive)A Delhi court Thursday said that there was sufficient evidence to proceed against AAP MLA from Okhla, Amanatullah Khan, in a case of alleged corruption related to illegal appointments in the Delhi Waqf board registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Special Judge MK Nagpal took cognizance of a CBI chargesheet stating that there were sufficient grounds for proceeding against eleven accused persons for commission of the offence of criminal conspiracy, punishable under Section 120-B (Punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court summoned the accused on November 23.
The court, however, found that all the accused, except Khan and Mahboob Alam, the former CEO of the Delhi Waqf Board, “do not prima-facie appear to have committed the offence of criminal misconduct by a public servant because none of them was holding any public office at the relevant time of commission of the alleged offences, which could have been abused”.
The CBI has accused Khan of making illegal appointments in the Waqf Board in violation of provisions and by abusing his office as the chairman. The CBI told the court that Khan appointed Alam to the CEO’s post which was a “wrongful or illegal appointment”. Khan has also been accused of irregularities in the Waqf Board in an anti-corruption branch (ACB) case. He had recently obtained bail in this case after the court observed that no loss was caused to the state exchequer.
They were accused of commission of criminal offences that include deliberate and criminal violation of rules, regulations and law, misuse of position, and causing financial losses to the exchequer, while serving as chairman and CEO of the Delhi Waqf Board respectively.
“Appointments have been made in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy hatched between Khan, Alam and the other nine named accused persons, who were appointed to different posts against provisions contained in the Delhi Waqf Act, 1995 and the rules and regulations framed thereunder, being either related or known to Khan,” the CBI told the court.
The CBI alleged that these “appointments were made in an arbitrary manner and without following the due process of law and the remunerations fixed for the above appointed accused persons were also on a higher scale”.
Further investigation in the matter against other persons is also stated to be pending and it has been submitted in the chargesheet that a supplementary chargesheet in this regard will be filed later on, when it is concluded.