The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday decided to move the Delhi High Court hours after a Delhi court granted interim bail to Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, president of Faridabad-based Al Falah University, in the agency’s money laundering probe linked to last year’s Delhi blast near the Red Fort, people aware of the development said.
Additional Sessions Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan on Saturday granted interim bail to Siddiqui for two weeks on medical grounds, stating that his wife Osama Akhtar is a cancer patient and has to undergo chemotherapy at Apollo Hospital on March 12.
Pradhan felt relieved, as he noticed that the recorded medical documents clearly showed that his wife was undergoing chemotherapy and needed care and support, especially since she lived alone.
Read also: The Security Directorate files an indictment against the President of Al Falah University and his attachés $139 Crores Assets
“The medical documents attached to the application indicate that the accused’s wife is suffering from cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy at the said hospital, and is receiving treatment as recommended. Moreover, the ailments and health condition of the accused/applicant’s wife are not disputed by the ED lawyer.”
Siddiqui’s lawyer Arshdeep Singh Khurana argued in court that Siddiqui’s three children live in the UAE and cannot come to India to take care of their mother.
Opposing the bail application, the ED argued that Siddiqui’s wife had been receiving treatment since 2024 and her condition was stable. The agency said other family members, including Siddiqui’s brother, could help her, and that Siddiqui’s children could travel from abroad to provide support.
The CEO said that the charges against Siddiqui were serious and included laundering large sums of money.
The judge agreed with the defense counsel, saying: “In view of the prevailing war conditions, the accused’s children cannot be expected to visit India for the accused/applicant’s wife’s chemotherapy treatment scheduled for March 12.”
Read also: Al Falah University founder Javed Ahmed Siddiqui was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case
Siddiqui was arrested on November 18 last year by the Public Security Directorate on money laundering charges linked to the alleged cheating of students at institutions run by Al Falah Foundation. The case is linked to the Red Fort explosion in Delhi on November 10.
The federal agency filed an indictment against Siddiqui last January and the value of the assets attached to it $139 crore, including 54 acres of land within the Al Falah University campus.
Reacting to the developments on Saturday, the ED officer said: “We will file an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the interim bail.”
Read also: Red Fort blast case: NIA arrests two more terrorist activists
“My friend erred before the court in declaring that his children were unable to travel and care for their sick mother. The children’s travel history shows that they rarely visited India, and even when they did, their stay was for a very short period. If the illness had been really serious, it would have been expected, by any reasonable standard, that all the children would have visited India and stayed with their mother to care for her,” the officer said.
Another officer in the Emergency Department said, “Afham Ahmed Siddiqi, Jawad Siddiqi’s son, and Aafia Siddiqui, his daughter, did not cooperate with the summons issued by the Emergency Department and never showed up. The judge, while granting bail, did not consider the Emergency Department’s requests.”
