Mumbai: In a case pertaining to alleged misappropriation of over Rs 57 crore funds collected to save aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, a court here on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.
Kirit Somaiya, the former MP from Mumbai, and his son Neil Somaiya, have been booked in the case.
The duo, fearing arrest in the case, had sought anticipatory bail from additional sessions judge R N Rokade.
While refusing pre-arrest bail to Kirit Somaiya, the judge said there were pictures to show he collected money in the name of saving the decommissioned aircraft carrier from getting dismantled, but the same was not deposited with the state governor’s office.
The court, however, will give its ruling on Neil Somaiya’s anticipatory bail application on Tuesday.
Based on a complaint lodged by a 53-year-old former Army man at the Trombay police station in suburban Mankhurd, the case has been registered against the father-son duo.
INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, was commissioned in 1961 and had played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. After being decommissioned in 1997, the ship was sold through an online auction in January 2014 and scrapped in November that year.
Kirit Somaiya, the complainant argued, had started a campaign to raise funds for INS Vikrant. He had said he had given donations to the former Lok Sabha MP for saving the warship and the BJP leader had collected more than Rs 57 crore for the purpose.
Somaiya, however, instead of depositing the amount to the Maharashtra governor’s secretary’s office, misappropriated the funds, the complainant alleged.
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