The Bombay High Court on Thursday extended the interim protection from arrest till August 10 for Bharatiya Janata Party’s leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil in the alleged case of misappropriation of funds to save naval aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
A Single Bench of justice Bharati Dangre extended the relief. The same Bench on June 14 extended the interim relief till July 7.
On April 13, a Single Bench of justice Anuja Prabhudessai granted interim relief from protection to the duo and had said, “The FIR 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 the said figure.”
A special prevention of money laundering court on April 12 rejected the anticipatory bail of father and son. The pleas had mentioned that the ₹57 crore case was of the year 2013 and was, therefore, politically motivated. It also stated that there was no evidence of their 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 a 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, decommissioned in 1997, was sold and scrapped in November 2104. 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 and Mr. Kirit Somaiya had himself donated only ₹2,000.
