New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, Delhi Police on Friday made public a history sheet on AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan who was arrested a day before for protesting against the anti-encroachment drive in Madanpur Khadar area of South Delhi, and proclaimed him a “bad character”. A person who has a long criminal record and is a repeat offender is declared a history sheeter by police. “AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan is a declared history-sheeter and a bad character on March 30,” said the police today “As many as 18 FIRs have been registered against him till March 30.”
Describing Khan’s initial years at Jamia Millia Islamia, the police further said, “He made a group consisting of persons from his village and his neighbouring villages and indulged in land grabbing and illegal constructions. A total of 18 cases/FIRs have been registered against him in different police stations in Delhi. Most of the cases are related to intimidation, threatening, hurting, riots causing hindrance to duties of public servants and causing enmities between two groups/ communities.”
The anti-encroachment drive, which began in Jahangirpuri area last month after some communal clashes there, is being conducted in various parts of the capital city, amid protests from locals. The North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations today conducted the drive in a civic stadium in Mangolpuri, Khyala and Samaypur Badli areas.
When a team of SDMC personnel had gone to clear Madanpur Khadar area of encroachment, the AAP legislator had staged a protest with locals there against the drive and tried to stop bulldozers. He was arrested by the police and booked for obstructing a public servant from discharging duty. Khan has been sent to judicial custody. It is not the first time that the AAP legislator has had brush with law. He has been in and out of jail several times. Last year he was arrested and booked by Parliament Street police for promoting enmity between different communities. “In view of the above involvements of Khan, it is clear that he has become a habitual and desperate criminal in the area. He has no respect for the law and order situation and has been repeatedly indulging in serious criminal activities,” the police added.
After arresting Khan Thursday, in an unusual move, the Delhi Police today made public a history sheet on him, proclaiming him a bad character. A
history sheet is meant for discreet surveillance of suspects, habitual and potential offenders. The police, however, cannot make the history sheet public as the document is confidential. In a historical judgment delivered on December12, 1980 in Malik Singh vs. State of Punjab and Haryana, the Supreme Court of India had held that though the maintenance of history sheet and surveillance register may be necessary for the prevention of crime, history sheets and surveillance registers are confidential documents and by this definition cannot be made public.
Interestingly, the history sheet on Khan put together by the Jamia Nagar Police Station shows 18 criminal cases, registered between 1995 and 2021 under various sections of the IPC. In 13 cases, however, the AAP MLA has either been discharged or acquitted by courts. There are only four cases in which trial is pending, including the one under Arms Act, while the case registered by the Parliament Street police last year is still pending investigation.
