Delhi HC reserves order on plea of MLA Amanatullah Khan against order declaring him a bad character

New Delhi [India], October 7 : The Delhi High court on Friday reserved the order on the plea of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan challenging the order of Delhi Police declaring him a 'bad character'.
His counsel argued that the action of the Police is mala fide, without application of mind and any material, and to malign the image of AAP MLA.
He also argued that the history sheet which is supposed to be confidential was leaked to the spokesman of a rival party and was shared on social media. This news was taken up by all the media houses and affected the image of the petitioner.
Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain reserved the order on the petition. The bench asked the counsels of the parties to submit the written arguments within 10 days.
Advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui argued that the order of the Delhi police is mechanical, without material and application of mind. There is a mala fide on the part of the Delhi police to malign the image of the petitioner MLA.
Advocate Siddiqui argued that there was no material to form an opinion about the petitioner for opening the history sheet. There is not a single complaint by any neighbour.
He also argued that the Delhi Police has not even initiated an inquiry into the leakage of the history sheet. This demonstrates that the action of the police was mala fide and maligning the image of the petitioner.
It was argued that there were 18 cases against the petitioner, out of which in 14 cases there was an acquittal, discharge or compounding. In 2 cases out of 4, the investigation is pending. One case has been challenged before the Allahabad High Court. There is no material to form an opinion against the petitioner.
On the other hand, ASG Sanjay submitted before the court that there was no mala fide on the part of the police, there was an application of mind and approval was given on the basis of material forwarded by the forwarding authority. There was sufficient material to form an opinion on the matter.
Earlier, it was also submitted that declaring a person a bad character is confidential. This information about the process can not be shared with the person against whom the process started.
He had also submitted that the decision is taken by a competent authority on the basis of material available with DCP, in this case, including a list of cases.
It is right that the petitioner is not a convict but there are cases against them. On this basis, his name has been entered into the register and a history sheet has been opened. This decision was taken with the proper application of mind.
It was submitted that the information can't be shared with the petitioner but it can be shared with the court for judicial scrutiny.
On the other hand, the counsel for AAP MLA contended that this is the first unprecedented case where a sitting MLA has been declared a bad character. Otherwise, the story is the other way around where the bad characters become MPs and MLAs.
Earlier the High Court had issued notice to Delhi Police on a plea moved by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan. He has challenged the order issued by Delhi Police declaring him a bad character of the area.
The bench had declined to interfere in the decision taken by Delhi Police. The counsel for the petitioner had urged the court to pass an interim direction for Delhi Police not to act on the decision.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan had moved a petition through Advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui challenging the decision taken by the Delhi police. He sought to quash the decision.
The petition has stated that the dossier was leaked to the media in contravention of rules and regulations in this regard which mandates it to be kept confidential.
The petitioner said it is a classic case of brazen abuse of the process of law by the Delhi police.
The plea moved by AAP MLA from Okhla has sought to quash the history sheet and proposal of declaring him a bad character. He also sought to remove his name from the register for surveillance to keep a close watch on his activities.
The SHO Jamia Nagar had submitted a dossier to the DCP South East and to ACP New Friends Colony along with a proposal of opening a history sheet and placing his name as Bad Character.
The petition submitted that the approval was granted in a mechanical manner.