The Supreme Court has declined to provide interim relief to Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. The top court has transferred his petition to the Allahabad High Court, directing the matter to be heard by a Division Bench on November 16.
Khan was arrested by the ED in an ongoing money laundering investigation related to Maluana Jauhar Ali University on Saturday, soon after he was released on bail in the alleged dual PAN card fraud case.
He was later sent to 14-day judicial custody. Against his arrest, the former UP minister had approached the top court with a writ petition challenging the arrest.
The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the transfer of records to the High Court within two days and the Registrar of the HC to place the matter before the Chief Justice for a listing before the division bench on Nov 16.
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During the hearing of the matter, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Azam Khan, termed the arrest 'pure persecution', arguing that it was done after he secured release in all other cases.
"I will fight everything, but I want bail. I am 80 years old. They arrested me in ED case and in 28 more cases, so I will die in jail," Sibal said.
Sibal submitted that Khan was arrested only to ensure that he remains in jail during the time of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Sibal also highlighted that the incident is of 2006 while the FIR was filed in 2019. He asked how PMLA came in?
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The officials said that an ED team from the Lucknow zonal office had reached Rampur district jail before his release and apprehended him soon after he came out of the jail premises. On October 13, the ED had also questioned him inside the barracks of Rampur jail where he was lodged.