INS Vikrant case: Mumbai courtroom rejects pre-arrest bail plea of BJP chief Somaiya

By PTI

MUMBAI: A courtroom right here on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail utility of BJP chief Kirit Somaiya in a case pertaining to alleged misappropriation of over Rs 57 crore funds collected to save lots of plane service INS Vikrant.

Kirit Somaiya, a former MP from Mumbai, and his son Neil have been booked within the case. Fearing arrest within the case, the duo had sought anticipatory bail from extra periods choose R N Rokade.

The choose, whereas refusing pre-arrest bail to Kirit Somaiya, mentioned there have been footage to indicate he collected cash within the title of saving the decommissioned plane service from getting dismantled, however the identical was not deposited with the state governor’s workplace.

The courtroom will give its ruling on Neil Somaiya’s anticipatory bail utility on Tuesday. The case towards the father-son duo has been filed based mostly on a grievance lodged by a 53-year-old former Army man on the Trombay police station in suburban Mankhurd.

Commissioned in 1961, INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class plane service of the Indian Navy, had performed a key function in implementing the naval blockade of East Pakistan in the course of the Indo-Pak War of 1971.

It was decommissioned in 1997. In January 2014, the ship was bought via a web-based public sale and scrapped in November that yr.

The complainant mentioned that Kirit Somaiya had began a marketing campaign to boost funds for INS Vikrant.

He had mentioned he had given donations to the previous Lok Sabha MP for saving the warship and the BJP chief had collected greater than Rs 57 crore for the aim.

However, as an alternative of depositing the quantity to the Maharashtra governor’s secretary’s workplace, he misappropriated the funds, the complainant alleged. Kirit Somaiya has rejected the allegation.