Money laundering charges framed against TMC MP Saket Gokhale, says ED

ED said the special court also rejected Saket Gokhale's application under Section 309 of the CrPC, which sought to suspend the PMLA proceedings.

Published on: Aug 13, 2024, 18:50:26 IST

By HT News Desk

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A special PMLA court in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on Tuesday framed criminal charges against Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Saket Gokhale under the anti-money laundering law.

“The Hon’ble Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) and Designated Special Court (PMLA), Ahmedabad, today i.e. 13.08.2024 framed the Criminal Charges against Saket Gokhale, M.P., Rajya Sabha and National Spokespersons of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in Prosecution Complaint filed by ED. Charges against him for Scheduled offence in Police case had also been framed,” Enforcement Directorate said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The special court also rejected Gokhale's application under Section 309 of the CrPC, which sought to suspend the PMLA, 2002 proceedings until the court decided the scheduled offense case against him, the ED said.

The state police arrested Saket Gokhale in Delhi in December 2022 for allegedly misusing money collected through crowdfunding.

The ED informed the court that “huge amounts of money collected through crowdfunding by Gokhale have been squandered on speculative share trading, dining, and other personal expenses, which appear to be extravagant in nature.” Gokhale, however, denied any misuse of the funds.

However, a special court granted regular bail to Gokhale in May of last year, in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities.

Defamation case against Saket Gokhale

Earlier in July, the Delhi High Court ordered Saket Gokhale to pay ₹50 lakhs in damages to Lakshmi Puri wife of Union Minister Hardeep Puri for defamation.

This came after Lakshmi Puri filed a defamation suit against Gokhale for making harmful statements on social media.

The case arose from a series of tweets and public statements by Gokhale that Lakshmi Puri claimed were false and harmful to her reputation. These statements allegedly concerned her financial dealings and public conduct, leading to considerable distress and damage to her reputation.

With PTI inputs

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