Delhi Waqf Board recruitment case: Court sends 3 accused to judicial custody

A Delhi court on Saturday refused the ED's request seeking 14-day custodial interrogation of three men arrested in a case related to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of the Delhi Waqf Board, also involving AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, after the defence counsel accused the agency of "illegal detention".

Special Judge Nyay Bindu sent the accused -- Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui -- to judicial custody till Sunday, saying the arguments were likely to take a long time to conclude.

The court noted the arguments put forward by defence lawyer Nitesh Rana, who claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) produced the accused before the court after almost 30 hours of their detention, which was illegal.

The law says a probe agency is required to produce an arrested person before a court of law within 24 hours of the arrest.

"The accused was called by the ED at 11 am on November 10 and since then, they were in the ED's custody. They were produced before the court at around 3:30 pm on Saturday," Rana told the judge.

According to the FIR, Khan, while working as the Delhi Waqf Board chairman, had illegally recruited 32 people in violation of norms and government guidelines.