MUMBAI: A Mumbai court has ordered a further investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds collected by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his son to save the decommissioned naval aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The court observed that the police have not adequately investigated what was done with the funds, directing them to conduct a more thorough probe.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate S.P. Shinde of the Esplanade Court issued the order last week while disposing of the closure report in the cheating case against the Somaiyas. The court directed the police to submit a report after the further investigation.
The case dates back to 2013, when Somaiya and his son allegedly collected over Rs 57 crore through a fundraising campaign to save INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 1961. The ship played a pivotal role during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 before being decommissioned in 1997 and eventually scrapped in 2014.
The case against the Somaiyas was registered at the Trombay police station in April 2022 following a complaint by an ex-serviceman. The complainant alleged that despite raising substantial funds, the Somaiyas did not deposit the money with the Maharashtra governor's secretary office, as they had pledged, but instead misappropriated the funds.
The case was later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police. The investigation officer had submitted a 'C' summary report to the court, claiming that the case fell into the category of "neither true nor false," suggesting that the complaint arose from a misunderstanding. The police, therefore, requested the court to accept the closure report.
However, after reviewing the statements of witnesses who had donated money for the campaign, the court found that the police had failed to present any documentation proving that the collected amount was deposited with the Maharashtra Governor's office or the state government. The magistrate remarked, "The investigating officer has not done [an] investigation as to what has been done by the accused with the amount collected by them."
The court further noted that the accused had conducted fundraising drives at other locations as well, but the police had not recorded the statements of witnesses from these other places who might have also contributed.
Considering these shortcomings, the magistrate concluded, "It appears to me that further investigation in the matter is necessary." The court has now instructed the investigating officer to conduct a more comprehensive probe in light of these observations and submit a report accordingly.