The top court had in March sought response from the Gujarat government on Gokhale’s plea for bail.
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The Supreme court on Monday granted bail to Trinamool Congress leader Saket Suhas Gokhale accused in an alleged misappropriation of funds raised through crowdfunding.
Granting bail to Saket Gokhale, a bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath noted that a chargesheet has already been filed in the case.
Advocate appearing for Saket Gokhale informed the court that he has already spent more than three and a half months in jail. The bail plea was opposed by the Additional Solicitor General SV Raju who had appeared for Gujarat government.
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Gokhale had approached the top court against Gujarat High court order holding that there was a prima facie case against him. The High Court had noted that Gokhale had received money not only from the wife of the complainant – an officer of Gujarat government, but also from 1,767 persons using social media and transactions were online.
The top court had in March sought response from the Gujarat government on Gokhale’s plea for bail.
A complaint was filed against the Gokhale by an officer of Gujarat government on December 28, 2022, alleging that his wife had paid some amount as a contribution to the crowdfunding initiated by him.
These funds, which were to be used for the welfare of the poor people, were misappropriated by Gokhale, the complaint had alleged.
However, Gokhale had argued that he was being targeted and was a victim of a political vendetta. He claimed before the High Court that he has been framed in this case, as the government wants him to be in jail.
Notably, Gokhale was first arrested on December six last year for a news clipping of a Right to Information (RTI) response he shared on Twitter stating that an amount of Rs 30 crore was spent ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi, where the century-old suspension bridge had collapsed in October.
He was, however, granted bail on December 8 in this case. As soon as he was released, he was immediately arrested by the Cyber Cell of the Ahmedabad Police in the misappropriation of funds case.
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