The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved the order on the plea of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan challenging the order of the Delhi Police declaring him a ‘bad character’.
His counsel argued that the action of the police was mala fide, without application of mind and any material support, and intended to malign the image of the 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 counsel of the parties to submit their 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 mala fide on the part of the Delhi police to malign the image of the petitioner MLA.
For the record, Advocate Siddiqui argued that there was no material to form an opinion about the petitioner for the opening of 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 submitted that the information couldn’t be shared with the petitioner but it could be shared with the court for judicial scrutiny.
On the other hand, the counsel for the 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: 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 in the area.
The bench had declined to interfere in the decision taken by the 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.
