Court rejects BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s son pre-arrest bail

The Somaiyas had started a campaign called "Save INS Vikrant" to raise funds for saving the submarine from being scrapped, but failed to deposit the collected money to the Governor, according to the FIR.

A special court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Bharatiya Janata Party's leader Kirit Somaiya's son Neil in an alleged case of misappropriating funds to save INS Vikrant.

On April 11, the same court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Maharashtra BJP's vice-president Mr. Somaiya.

The court also refused to grant both of them any protection from arrest and held that there are pictures to show that Mr. Somaiya had collected money in the name of the ship, there is a letter that states he was going to deposit the money with the Governor, however, he did not.

The Somaiyas had filed for pre-arrest bail on April 9 after the Trombay police station registered a criminal case against them on the basis of a complaint by a retired Army personnel Baban Bhosale. The FIR was registered under sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code.

INS Vikrant was decommissioned in the year 1997, however, was sold and scrapped in November 2104. The Somaiyas had started a campaign called "Save INS Vikrant" to raise funds for saving the submarine from being scrapped and collected more than ₹57 crore, while he himself donated only ₹2,000.

Senior advocate Ashok Mundargi appeared for the Somaiyas and argued that it is a case of political vendetta and that they are being targeted as the case is seven years old.

However, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police opposed the plea and said the duo did not appear before the police station as per procedure and filed for the anticipatory bail instead. It was also contended by the agency that other than Mr Bhosale, there are witnesses who also support the case of the father-son duo embezzling money.