CBI to investigate AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan

New Delhi, Jul 18: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has granted prosecution sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to proceed against AAP Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan and former Delhi Waqf Board CEO, retired IPS officer Mehboob Aalam, in a case of alleged corruption related to illegal appointments in the board. The AAP dismissed the allegations as baseless.

 

 

 

According to official sources, Saxena has granted sanction of the prosecution to the CBI against Khan and Aalam for alleged commission of criminal offenses 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. The L-G has granted sanction under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, said sources.

 

 

 

The case against the AAP MLA was filed in 2016 following complaints from the SDM (HQ), Revenue Department, alleging that he made arbitrary and illegal appointments to various existing and non-existing posts on Delhi Waqf Board. Sources said the CBI investigation had revealed sufficient prosecutable evidence of the commission of criminal offenses and sought prosecution sanction of the L-G (the competent authority in such matters as per law established) in May 2022. “As per investigation of the CBI, Amanatullah Khan, in connivance with Mehboob Aalam, abused his official position and deliberately ignored rules and laid down procedures to cause huge losses to the government exchequer by arbitrarily appointing individuals by manipulating recruitment procedures to favor chosen individuals over thousands of deserving people who could have got employed had the process of appointment been transparent and impartial. The basic principle of the right to equality and opportunity was bypassed by Amanatullah Khan to provide undeserving and unauthorized benefits to specific pre-identified persons,” said sources.

 

 

Sources said the L-G sanctioned approval for launching criminal proceedings after carefully going through the records placed on file that prima facie provides sufficient evidence of culpability of Khan and Aalam.