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INS Vikrant fraud case: HC extends bail relief to BJP’s Kirit Somaiya, son till June 14
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil have been accused of allegedly misappropriating funds collected for saving decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from being scrapped.
The Bombay high court on Thursday extended the interim anticipatory bail relief to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil in the INS Vikrant fraud case. The relief has been extended till June 14.
The father-son duo have been accused of allegedly misappropriating funds collected for saving decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from being scrapped.
The BJP leader was earlier granted pre-arrest bail by the Bombay high court in the case on April 13 while Neil was given the bail a week later (on April 20).
A session’s court in Mumbai had earlier rejected their anticipatory bail applications before the high court granted protection from arrest. A single-judge bench of Justice Anuja Prabhudesai had ordered that in the event of arrest in the case, Kirit and Neil be released on a personal bond of ₹50,000 each.
The case against the Somaiyas' was registered on a complaint of an ex-serviceman, who contributed ₹2,000 for saving INS Vikrant.
The ex-serviceman said the BJP leader had collected ₹57 crore from the public in 2013 for the restoration of INS Vikrant. The money was, however, never put to use or deposited with the governor's office, as per the initial plan, the complaint said.
An FIR was registered against the father-son duo at the Trombay police station on April 6.
INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, was commissioned in 1961 and played an important role in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. The carrier was in 1997 and in January 2014, it was sold through an online auction and scrapped in November that year.
(With agency inputs)
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