Mumbai court rejects anticipatory bail plea of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya in INS Vikrant fund misappropriation case

A Mumbai Sessions Court on Monday rejected anticipatory bail application filed by Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya in connection with a misappropriation of funds case registered by the Mumbai Police..Somaiya and his son have been booked for allegedly misappropriating over ₹50 crores collected to save the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from being decommissioned.A case was registered against them at the Trombay Police Station in the city after a complaint was lodged by a retired army personnel.After the Mumbai Police issued summons, instead of responding to the summons, the applicants approached the Sessions Court for anticipatory bail.Additional Sessions Judge RN Rokade pronounced the order today..Senior Advocate Ashok Mundargi stated that the entire campaign was for saving the aircraft carrier from decommissioning and to convert the ship into a museum.He argued that fund raising took place in 2013 and the decommissioning took place in 2014. The present case was registered after 9 years.Mundargi pointed out that the complaint arose after an ex-Army man filed a complaint with the Trombay Police that he had not been granted a receipt for the money he had donated to the funds..He submitted the following as grounds for grant of anticipatory bail:The campaign was launched not only by BJP, but also Congress and Shiv Sena;The programme was by a political party, and hence utilisation of funds was not the applicant’s concern;The objection to not having received a receipt was taken in 2022 by the complainant and not before;Kirit Somaiya is no more a politician, but is a party supporter and leader; in any case, the programme was by a political party and not any individual;The present case was registered to counter the allegations against the ruling party;That there is nothing which stops them from checking into the bank accounts and bank statements to check the funds.Mundargi said that this case was borne out of political vendetta and the FIR was registered with political move, hence the applicants ought to be granted protection.“Interviews are being given that ‘father and son both will be in prison’”, he submitted..Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat opposed the applications on three grounds:That even if complainant filed the complaint based on media reports, the facts are not speculative that both accused moved around Mumbai to collect funds;Certain points are a matter of investigation and custodial interrogation is required considering the position and money collected.If this amount is not utilised for saving the INS from decommissioning, then it is important to find out where has it gone..He submitted that the decommissioning required approximately ₹7 crores and if ₹57 crores had been collected, then the ship may not have required decommissioning. He, therefore, urged to Court to consider the complaint in toto.He stated that the applicant himself had photos that pointed out that the complainant was not the only person who raised the issue but there are others like him.When RTI activists applied to find out what happened to the money, they found from the office of the Governor of Maharashtra that no money towards such funds had been deposited, Gharat said.