The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea filed by Mohammad Aslam Wani, an alleged hawala dealer, seeking to quash a money laundering case registered against him. The case stems from a 2005 terror funding matter in which Wani was previously acquitted.
Justice Sanjeev Narula sought the ED’s response and scheduled the next hearing for September 26.
Wani, through his counsel Advocate M.S. Khan, argued that the basis of the money laundering case — a 2005 terror funding case — no longer holds since he was acquitted of terror charges in 2010 by a trial court, a verdict later upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2017. He was only convicted under the Arms Act.
“Consequently, the allegations regarding generation of proceeds of crime from scheduled offences do not stand. As per law, if the predicate offence fails, the PMLA case collapses as well,” Khan submitted.
Wani also expressed concern over the prolonged delay in the trial. He pointed out that although charges were framed against him and co-accused Shabir Shah, a prominent Kashmiri separatist leader, in January 2017, only four out of 33 witnesses have been examined over the past seven years.
Both Wani and Shah were arrested on July 26, 2017, in connection with the ED case, which was based on an earlier FIR registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell in August 2005. At that time, Wani was allegedly found with Rs 63 lakh in cash — said to be part of hawala funds originating from the Middle East — and a large quantity of ammunition.
According to police records, Wani confessed to having delivered approximately Rs 2.25 crore in multiple instalments to Shabir Shah and his associates. He also claimed that part of the seized amount was to be given to a Jaish-e-Mohammad commander, Abu Baqar, in Srinagar, while a portion was retained as his commission.
The ED had subsequently registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Shah and Wani, based on the alleged hawala transactions linked to terror financing.
