The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to hear Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s plea for bail in a fresh Enforcement Directorate (ED) case and directed him to approach the Allahabad High Court.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the high court Chief Justice to list the matter before a division bench on November 16.
Khan, a 10-time MLA and former Uttar Pradesh minister, moved the Supreme Court after the ED arrested him on October 31, shortly after he secured bail in the last of the 95 cases registered against him since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
Appearing for Khan, advocate Mohd Nizamuddin Pasha argued that the arrest in a 2019 case concerning alleged irregularities in land purchases for Mohammad Ali Jauhar University was illegal. Pasha said the FIR was filed 13 years after the alleged transactions involving farmers.
Khan, 78, alleged in his petition that the timing of his arrest showed “blatant illegality” and a “gross abuse of process”. He claimed criminal proceedings were being used for political ends to keep him behind bars ahead of the next Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. He also sought interim bail under Article 142 of the Constitution, citing his prolonged detention and deteriorating health.
Khan alleged that he had been arrested at the gate of Rampur district jail without an arrest memo or written grounds. He said the ED had already questioned him in the case while he was in custody and described the arrest as politically motivated.
He said he had been acquitted in six cases, three cases had been closed and he had been convicted in six. The remaining 80 cases, including the ED case, were pending trial, according to his petition.
“The clear pattern that emerges is that whenever the Petitioner is about to be released, a fresh case is registered or revived, and he is sought to be kept behind bars,” Khan alleged.
ED Case Against Azam Khan?
The ED is investigating alleged money laundering involving Khan, the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The probe concerns alleged financial irregularities linked to the trust, which runs Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur.
Khan founded the trust and controls it. He is also the university’s honorary chancellor. The ED is examining assets linked to the case and has attached land and buildings belonging to the university, valuing the properties at about ₹1,170 crore.
In a statement, the ED’s Lucknow zonal office said its investigation had identified assets worth ₹426.46 crore as alleged proceeds of crime. The agency alleged that government funds, building materials and donations from contractors handling public works had been diverted to the university project.
The ED said it calculated the attachment value by comparing the assessed cost of the campus with expenditure it considered supported by legitimate sources.
