INS Vikrant case: Bombay HC extends BJP's Kirit Somaiya interim anticipatory bail relief till June 14
On April 13, the BJP leader was granted pre-arrest bail by the Bombay High Court.
FollowThe Bombay High Court on Thursday extended the interim anticipatory bail relief provided to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya along with his son, Neil Somaiya, till June 14 in the INS Vikrant fraud case.Â
Both the father-son have been accused of allegedly misappropriating crowd funds gathered to save the warship INS Vikrant from being scrapped.
On April 13, the BJP leader was granted pre-arrest bail by the Bombay High Court, while his son, Neil Somaiya, was granted the bail a week later, i.e., on April 20.Â
Mumbai's session court earlier refused their anticipatory bail applications before the High Court granted them protection from arrest. Justice Anuja Prabhudesai directed that in the event of arrest in the case, Kirit and NeilHSomaiya be released on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 each.
The case was filed on Somaiya based on the complaint filed by an ex-serviceman, who contributed Rs 2,000 to the saving INS Vikrant campaign.Â
Following the ex-serviceman, the BJP leader raised Rs 57 crore in 2013 from people for the restoration of INS Vikrant. The money, however, was never used or deposited with the governor's office, as per the complaint.Â
On April 6, an FIR was filed against the father-son duo at the Trombay police station.
The Indian Navy's Majestic-class aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961 and played an essential role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. In 1977, the carrier was built, and in January 2014, it was sold at an online auction before being scrapped in November of that year.
