A sessions court here has refused to grant bail to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale in a case related to alleged misuse of money collected through crowdfunding.
Additional sessions judge A B Bhojak in the order passed on Thursday noted that there was a "strong case" against Gokhale, and being a political worker, he might "hamper and tamper with evidences" if released on bail at this stage.
Earlier, a magistrate's court had refused to grant him bail after the completion of his police remand on January 5.
Saket Gokhale was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch from Delhi on December 30 in a case of alleged misuse of money he had collected through crowdfunding.
He is facing charges under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 467 (forgery).
The First Information Report was registered on a complaint filed by an Ahmedabad city resident who claimed to have donated Rs 500 to Gokhale through online mode.
As per the prosecution, the case was not just about Rs 500 because Gokhale allegedly collected over Rs 70 lakh from more than 1,700 persons through crowdfunding platform 'ourdemocracy' and used that money for personal use.
During bail hearing, Gokhale's lawyer argued that his client was a victim of political vendetta, and was being unjustly arrested in one FIR after another by Gujarat Police.
Saket Gokhale claimed that he was framed up in the case because "he was fighting against the establishment".
Prosecution did not have any proof to establish that he had used the funds in question for his personal purposes, and they were utilized for "social work", he said.
Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution said the offence was of serious nature as a "huge amount of Rs 72 lakh" was deposited in Gokhale's account.
The sessions court observed that prima facie there was a case against the accused because "it appears that the funding raised for welfare of the people was utilized by the applicant for his personal expenses".
The court also stated in its order that the accused may try to influence the investigation if released on bail.
The TMC leader was arrested by Gujarat Police thrice in December 2022.
He was first arrested by the Cyber Crime Branch on December 6 for allegedly spreading fake news regarding the cost incurred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi town following a bridge collapse there.
On December 1, Gokhale had shared a news clipping about information purportedly obtained through RTI which claimed that Modi's visit to Morbi cost Rs 30 crore.
Soon after he received bail from an Ahmedabad court, the TMC leader was again arrested on December 8 by the Morbi police for the same offence registered there. He was granted bail the next day. PTI PJT PD KRK KRK
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