AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan moves session court seeking bail

New Delhi: AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, arrested for allegedly threatening a woman after she had visited his residence to raise the issue of power cuts, on Wednesday moved a session court here seeking bail.

The Okhla MLA, who is in judicial custody, moved the bail plea before an Additional Sessions Judge who has fixed the matter for hearing on Thursday.

The legislator had been denied the relief by a magisterial court on Tuesday on the ground that he might influence witnesses and hamper investigation if released. Khan’s bail application, filed through advocate Madan Lal, contended that he is innocent and is an MLA who has to serve society/public.

His counsel said Khan is a responsible man and he is ready to abide by whatever conditions the court would impose and that no purpose would be served by keeping him in jail. The MLA, who was produced before a duty magistrate last evening, was sent to Tihar jail for 14 days after the police sought the same submitting that the complainant was constantly being threatened and harassed at the behest of the accused.

Khan was first detained for questioning and then arrested on 24 July, a day after he alleged in a press conference that the woman was “pressurised” by the police into giving a false statement against him. According to the police, on 22 July, the woman had recorded her statement before a magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC alleging that when she was returning from the MLA’s residence, a vehicle, in which Khan was sitting, tried mowing her down.

She also claimed that a motorcycle tried to run over her when she was on her way to the court to record the statement. Prior to that, she had on 19 July filed a complaint with police alleging that at the AAP MLA’s residence in Jamia Nagar, a youth had on 10 July abused her and threatened that she would be killed if she did not stop politicising the matter.

The woman, a resident of Jasola, had said that she had telephoned Khan on 10 July and later went to his Batla House residence to raise the issue of power cuts with him after which she was allegedly threatened by the youth. An FIR was subsequently registered in this regard under sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

After her statement to the magistrate, Section 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC was added to the FIR. Khan had, however, said he did not even know if the woman came to his residence.