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Ahilyanagar court rejects Kalpana Kharat’s anticipatory bail
A court denied anticipatory bail to Kalpana Kharat, wife of arrested godman Ashok Kharat, in a fraud case involving a farmer's land worth ₹10 crore.
Pune/Nashik: A court in Rahata in Ahilyanagar district on Wednesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by Kalpana Kharat, wife of arrested self-styled godman Ashok Kharat. She had moved the plea on April 4.
Public prosecutor BD Pangavhane said that the court of additional sessions judge RS Gupta denied her pre-arrest bail application.
Kalpana’s counsel, PR Kolhe, said she would now approach the Bombay High Court for relief.
The Shirdi police registered an FIR against the Kharat couple and three of their aides on March 31 after a 55-year-old farmer, Raosaheb Gondkar, accused them of fraudulently acquiring his four-acre land, valued at ₹10 crore. The case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Maharashtra Money Lending (Regulation) Act, 2014.
In her anticipatory bail application, Kalpana claimed that her husband had carried out the transaction with the farmer without her knowledge and that she was not present during the execution of the sale deed.
The prosecution, however, argued that investigators had found two cheques signed by Kalpana, amounting to ₹81 lakh, which were allegedly handed over to the farmer as part of the land deal.
“Kalpana had also given power of attorney to one of the aides, Arvind Bawke, named in the FIR, authorising him to register the farmer’s land in the couple’s name at the local sub-registrar office as the couple would not be present during the registration process,” said investigating officer and Shirdi police sub-inspector Nivant Jadhav.
Jadhav said that during the investigation, police found nearly ₹7 crore in an account linked to Kalpana at a bank in Sinnar, Nashik district.
“Her custodial interrogation is necessary to ascertain the source of the funds and the nature of transactions carried out through the account. There is a possibility that the money was used for illegal money-lending activities,” Jadhav said.
He added that the Shirdi police are trying to trace Kalpana and would arrest her soon.
According to the complaint, Gondkar approached Ashok Kharat in August 2023 seeking a loan to repay debts owed to a local cooperative bank. The complainant alleged that Kharat agreed to provide the loan but insisted on executing a sale deed for the farmer’s four-acre land. Gondkar claimed he signed the deed due to financial distress.
The two also allegedly signed a memorandum of understanding stating that Gondkar could reclaim the land after a year by repaying the loan amount along with interest totalling ₹6.07 crore.
Gondkar alleged that after August 2024, he repeatedly tried to contact Kharat to repay the dues and reclaim the land, but Kharat avoided meeting him.
