Delhi Court Grants Bail To Amanatullah Khan In Waqf Board Case

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted regular bail to Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan and 10 others in a case related to to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board recruitment. Special Judge M K Nagpal, who had earlier granted interim bail to the accused, noting that there was no allegation against the them for demand, payment or acceptance etc. of bribe in connection with the appointments.It noted that the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act have been invoked in the case because it has been alleged that the public offices of Khan and accused Mahboob Alam, then Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DWB, were abused or misused in connection with those appointments.

 
"Again, further investigation in the matter may take a long time to conclude and there is no purpose behind taking or keeping the accused persons in custody awaiting conclusion thereof," the judge said. He noted that admittedly, the appointments were made for a short duration of 89 days only and the alleged loss of Rs 27.20 lakh caused to the government exchequer is not because of any undue advantage or benefits derived by the main accused Khan or others, but the said loss is alleged to be the amount of salaries and emoluments which have been paid to those appointees or the other co­-accused against for the work done by them on the posts to which they were so appointed. 

"They all had already cooperated in investigation of the case and had provided whatever information and documents pertaining to this case could have been in their possession or power. Further, no recovery of any money is stated to have been effected from any of the applicants and since no bribe was paid, there was even no question of recovery thereof from any of the applicants," the judge said.He added that there was no ground or reason for denial of bail to them or for taking any of them into custody.According to the CBI, the case was registered in 2016 under Sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC against Khan and others on the allegations that he being chairman of the Delhi Wakf Board (DWB), had acted in a corrupt and illegal way in getting appointed Mahboob Alam as CEO of the DWB.

CBI stated that Khan also got appointed his relatives and other known persons on various contractual or daily wage posts in DWB, in collusion with and in furtherance of an criminal conspiracy hatched between all of them, and that all those appointments were made by misuse and abuse of the official positions of Khan and Alam and also without following the due process of law. It was alleged by the CBI that in total, 41 persons were appointed in DWB in different capacities and under different schemes and these include Alam who had been appointed as CEO of the DWB.