INS Vikrant Cheating Case: Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya Approaches Bombay High Court Seeking Anticipatory Bail

A day after sessions court refused anticipatory bail Kirit Somaiya, the BJP leader and former MP has approached the Bombay High Court seeking relief in a cheating case regarding by Mumbai Police alleging misappropriation of funds collected for restoration of warship INS Vikrant.The petition has been filed through Advocate Hrishikesh Mundargi. The matter will be listed before a Single Bench of the High Court.On Tuesday, the court rejected his son Neil Somaiya's anticipatory bail plea also.While rejecting Somaiya's Anticipatory Bail Application, the court had said that there were pictures to show that money was collected and as well as a letter that money was to be deposited with the Governor, but it wasn't deposited.The FIR at Mumbai's Trombay Police Station by a person claiming to be a retired army personnel, Baban Bhimrao Bhosale, has been registered under sections 406, 420 and 34 of the IPC.According to the police's reply, the complainant in this case was a retired army personnel and he, on coming to know that Somaiya had launched a campaign to "save INS Vikrant", had himself donated Rs 2,000 in cash for the campaign.The complaint further alleged that Somaiya had, in December 2013, tweeted that he was meeting the Governor of Maharashtra with a demand to save the warship and that citizens of Mumbai were willing to donate Rs 140 crore to save it. The complaint, based on media reports, alleges that Somaiya had collected around Rs 57 crore for that purpose from outside various railway stations in the city, but it was never used for the same as the ship was dismantled and sold in scrap in 2014. According to the complaint, an application under the Right to Information Act to Maharashtra Governor's office said that Somaiya had not deposited any money with the Governor's office in that regard.In the Sessions court Senior Advocate Ashok Mundargi for the duo argued that the campaign to save the ship was launched by the BJP and the Shiv Sena and they were being targeted by political vendetta.Vehemently opposing the allegation of collecting crores, the duo claimed only Rs. 11, 000 was collected. In a reply opposing the father-son duo's applications, the EOW denied that the allegations of it being a politically motivated case filed after a gap of over seven years under instructions of a specific political party.Among the grounds for opposing the applications and reasons for custodial interrogation, the police said they had witnesses apart from the complainant as well and that the accused has admitted that he did collect funds. The reply said that the accused had not sought permission from any competent authority for collecting the money; that it was necessary to inquire into the purpose for which the funds were utilised; and that Somaiya being a former Member of Parliament and an influential person, there was a likelihood that he may tamper with the evidence by putting pressure on the complainant and witnesses in the case and therefore obstruct the investigation process.The reply filed by Inspector Vinay Ghorpade of the EOW Unit 6 of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch said that the complainant had brought forward whatever information he could, which may not be comprehensive in nature but he has set the law in motion."After receiving information about the amount of embezzlement deposited in the said case in the year 2022, the complainant was convinced that the said amount had been embezzled. He immediately lodged a complaint in this regard and as he is not affiliated with any political party. Therefore, the allegations made by the accused that there is a delay of over seven years in lodging the complaint and that it has been done under instructions of a particular political party," the reply stated.Mundargi had submitted that in 2022, nearly nine years later the objection is that the receipt was not given to the complainant. He questioned what the prosecution was doing for so long."All parts were sold in 2014," Mundargi asserted that Shiv Sena was also responsible, it was also collecting money.He said Somaiya is no more in the government. He claimed that it was a party that organised the program and that individuals are never in power.He said it is not like they were standing there and collecting money worth Rs. 57 crores.Mundargi argued that that today the scenario is such that they are meeting allegations against the ruling party and that interviews are being generated, that father and son both will be in prison.

INS Vikrant Cheating Case: Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya Approaches Bombay High Court Seeking Anticipatory Bail

Sharmeen Hakim

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