“Your argument may have some substance, but we don’t want to express any opinion,” the Chief Justice said in oral remarks as the Supreme Court declined to examine the Azam Khan ED arrest itself and transferred his writ petition to the Allahabad High Court, with records to reach it within two days and a Division Bench to take it up on November 16.
New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Mohd. Azam Khan will have to argue his challenge to his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court decided on Thursday (November 5) by transferring his writ petition there. According to the petition, the arrest was made about 40 minutes after his release from jail on October 29 in the dual PAN card case [Mohd Azam Khan v. Directorate of Enforcement].
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard the matter.
The arrest and the relief sought
Quashing of the ED arrest and of the subsequent remand is what the plea seeks. Khan has also challenged the November 1 order of the Special Court remanding him to judicial custody, and has asked for release from custody as interim relief. On October 29, the Allahabad High Court had suspended the seven-year sentence of Khan and his son Abdullah Azam Khan in the dual PAN card forgery case.
Submissions for Azam Khan
Appearing for Khan, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal called the arrest “pure persecution”, made when Khan had already secured release in all his other cases. His submission was that the arrest was mala fide and meant to keep Khan in jail during the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, and that the ED took Khan away right outside the jail on his release.
Sibal also questioned the money laundering case itself. The incidents dated back to 2006, he said, while the FIR was filed in 2019, and items such as goats and cows had been shown as proceeds of crime. “I will fight everything but I want bail. I am 80 years old,” he told the Bench.
The Chief Justice, in his oral remarks, made clear that the Court was not going into the merits:
“Your argument may have some substance, but we don’t want to express any opinion.”
What the Court directed
The Bench expressed no view on the merits and held that the appropriate course was for Khan to approach the High Court. The records are to be transmitted to the Allahabad High Court within two days. The Registrar General is to place the matter before the Chief Justice of the High Court for listing before a Division Bench on November 16, and Khan has liberty to amend the petition and to place additional material on record.
The predicate case behind the ED action
Forgery in the dual PAN card case is the predicate offence for the ED case. In November last year, a Magistrate at Rampur convicted Khan and his son under Sections 467, 468, 420, 471 and 120-B of the IPC. The FIR was lodged in 2019 by BJP leader Akash Saxena, now an MLA, alleging that Abdullah used two PAN cards with different dates of birth to become eligible to contest the 2017 Assembly elections, in conspiracy with his father. Those convictions are under appeal.
The allegations in the money laundering case have not been tested in court, the Supreme Court has expressed no view on the merits, and Khan is entitled to the presumption of innocence in that case.
Why the hearing matters
Challenges to arrest and remand are, by the Supreme Court’s settled practice, sent first to the jurisdictional High Court, and the petitioner’s position is protected here through a fixed listing date. The Allahabad High Court will now decide the legality of the ED arrest, its timing after Khan’s release, and the question of interim release, and Khan can also place fresh material before it.
Case Title: Mohd Azam Khan v. Directorate of Enforcement [Diary No. 69162/2026]
Bench: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi
Date of Hearing: November 5, 2026
Appearances: Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal for the petitioner
