Funds Misappropriation Case: No Relief To Saket Gokhale, SC Issues Notice To Gujarat Govt

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Gujarat government on activist Saket Gokhale’s petition against a Gujarat High Court order denying him bail in connection with a misappropriation of funds case.

A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath asked the Gujarat government to respond within two weeks on the petition. Gokhale was represented by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Gokhale, a Trinamool Congress spokesperson, has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Gujarat High Court order last month that denied his bail application in connection with a case of misappropriation of funds raised through an online campaign.

The High Court had noted that Gokhale had a prima facie case. According to the statements of witnesses, he received money not only from the complainant’s wife, but also from 1,767 other people. According to the Court, these funds were collected through social media, with the majority of transactions taking place online.

On December 28, 2022, a deputy secretary in the State government filed a complaint against Gokhale, alleging that his wife contributed to the TMC leader’s crowdfunding campaign.

These funds were to be used for the welfare of the poor people. However, Gokhale was accused of misappropriating the funds for his personal use.

Gokhale had argued in his defence that he was being targeted and was the victim of a political vendetta. He claimed before the Gujarat High Court that he was framed in this case because the government wanted him imprisoned.

Notably, Gokhale was arrested for the first time on December 6, last year, for a news clipping of a Right to Information (RTI) response he shared on Twitter, claiming that 30 crore was spent ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi, where the century-old suspension bridge collapsed in October.

However, in this case, he was granted bail on December 8. As soon as he was released, he was immediately arrested by the Ahmedabad Police Cyber Cell for misappropriation of funds. Mithu Jain, an advocate, filed the appeal before the Supreme Court.