The Bombay High Court on Tuesday extended the interim protection from arrest till July 7 for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya and his son in the alleged case of misappropriation of funds to save the naval aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
A single Bench of Justice Bharati Dangre extended the relief till July 7 and also directed the Maharashtra Government to file a reply to the pleas by father and son stating the charges against them are false.
On April 13, a single Bench of Justice Anuja Prabhudessai had granted interim relief from protection to the duo and said: "The FIR [first information report] indicates that allegations are mainly based on media reports. Though there are specific allegations of misappropriation of ₹57 crore, there is no material on record to indicate on what basis the complainant has arrived at said figure.”
A special court on April 12 had rejected his anticipatory bail in the same case. Mr. Kirit Somaiya’s plea mentions that the case is of the year 2013 and is therefore politically motivated. It also states that there is no evidence of his involvement in the case.
The Somaiyas had filed for pre-arrest bail before the Sessions Court on April 9 after the Trombay Police Station registered a criminal case against them on the basis of a complaint by retired Army personnel Baban Bhosale. The FIR was registered under Sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code.
INS Vikrant was decommissioned in the year 1997, and sold and scrapped in November 2014. The Somaiyas had started a campaign called ‘Save INS Vikrant’ to raise funds for saving the aircraft carrier from being scrapped, and collected more than ₹57 crore. Mr. Kirit Somaiya had himself donated only ₹2,000 to the campaign.
