Even as Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was produced in the Rouse Avenue Court at the end of five days of ED remand and the investigating agency’s raids on MLA Amanatullah Khan continued, protesting party activists took to the streets, AAP fielded Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha to defend Khan.
“I would like to state this clearly, that in BJP-ruled states, agencies are silent, and in the non-BJP-ruled states, agencies are violent. Between 2004 and 2014 when the UPA was in power, in ten years ED raided just 112 places. However, from 2014 to 2023, in these nine years, the same Enforcement Directorate raided 3,100 places. Not just that, 95% of cases registered by the CBI and ED are against politicians of the opposition,” said Chadha, clearly targeting the BJP-led NDA government.
Calling AAP MLA Amantaullah Khan “famous” and “popular”, the AAP MP pointed out that the ED raids are in connection with an ongoing Anti Corruption Branch case from last year in which the ACB had arrested him on September 16 and the Rouse Avenue Court had granted bail to him on September 28.
Reading out from the bail order of the Rouse Avenue Court, Chadha said, “Para 45 says the first allegation which is made against the accused with regard to recruitment of 32 contractual employees. There is no material evidence to show that these employees had withdrawn their salaries from the Waqf fund without doing any work or they were not qualified for the job. It has also come on record that previously also, the Delhi Waqf Board had recruited employees without there being any rules and regulations.” Referring to the allegation of bribes being taken, Chadha read out from para 47 of the court order, “There is no material evidence on record to show that any bribe was paid by any of the employees in securing a job.”
“Secondly, the allegation made against the accused is the grant of tenancies at a lower rent which resulted in a loss to the exchequer…In para 49, the court says that from the said documents, it is apparent that the tenancies have been created at a higher rent than the reserved price and also that the rent being taken is at a higher rate than the previous rent. Therefore, it is prima facie shown that no loss to the exchequer has been caused with regard to the creation of tenancies pertaining to Waqf property. The AAP MP quoted the Rouse Avenue Court order that said prima facie, the allegations against the accused, that is Amanatullah Khan, are “not grave” and “not serious”.
“Accused has attended the previous twenty cases in which he has been discharged or acquitted which also shows that he has submitted himself to the process of law. There is no chance of tampering of evidence and therefore we give bail to the concerned accused,” Chadha quoted from the Rouse Avenue Court’s order granting bail to AAP MLA Khan again. It must be noted that this is a bail order and not an acquittal.
He also said that ever since the coalition INDIA was formed, there has been a rise in raids, investigations, and summons, while citing action against DMK, TMC, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and elsewhere. “They have a special love for us. They have arrested a number of our leaders in false cases and jailed them, so an atmosphere is being created of arresting leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc. This is triggered by their fear of the INDIA coalition,” alleged Chadha. He also argued like many other opposition leaders that if one has to get relief from these cases, the politician or the party has to join the NDA.
“Jo BJP mein chala jayega, woh inaam payega, aur jo BJP ke khilaf awaz uthayega, uske ghar ED naam ka mehman ayega (Those who join the BJP will get rewarded, while those who raise their voices against the BJP will get a visit from the ED), this is the truth of our democracy,” Chadha said, reinforcing his point, adding that nothing incriminating has been found against either Satyendar Jain or Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh is being punished as he is the strongest voice of the opposition to PM Narendra Modi.
Referring to the scrapping of the allotment of government residence, the newly married young MP said, “Following moves to scrap the allotment of a four-room government bungalow, I have been getting a lot of love from across the country, and in this process, I have gained a permanent place in the hearts of the people.” Chadha has already moved the High Court challenging the withdrawal of allotment and the Supreme Court against his suspension.
Sanjay Singh’s ED remand, meanwhile, has been extended till October 13.
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