A MAGISTRATE court here has refused to accept a police closure report on a complaint filed against BJP leader Kirit Somaiya and his son Neil seeking a probe into funds collected by the two as part of a drive to help restore INS Vikrant, Indian Navy’s first aircraft carrier. The closure report had been submitted by the Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on a complaint filed by an ex-serviceman against Somaiya and Neil in 2022. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Esplanade Court) S P Shinde directed the police to conduct further investigation, saying it was necessary. Commissioned in 1961, INS Vikrant, a Majestic-class aircraft carrier, played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the 1971 war. It was decommissioned in 1997. What is the case? In 2022, a cheating complaint was filed at the Trombay Police Station by Baban Bhosale, a former Army sepoy, against Somaiya and Neil. He said that in 2013, Somaiya held a drive to collect donations to prevent INS Vikrant from being decommissioned and scrapped, as part of which donation boxes were set up in various locations in the city. The BJP leader promised that the money thus collected would be handed over to the Governor. Bhosale said that given the significance of INS Vikrant, he contributed Rs 2,000 himself. However, he said, in 2014, he learnt that the warship had been scrapped and auctioned to a company for Rs 57 crore. In December 2022, months after the BJP formed a government in Maharashtra with the Eknath Shinde Sena faction, Bhosale filed a complaint alleging that Somaiya had collected more than Rs 57 crore for saving the ship, and demanding to know what had happened with the funds. Bhosale further said that while Somaiya had tweeted that he had written to the Governor of Maharashtra on the contributions Mumbai residents were ready to make to “save” INS Vikrant, the Governor’s office had said it had received no money from Somaiya. Bhosale filed the complaint under various sections, including cheating, naming Neil as he was part of the fund-collection drive. In 2022, a special court rejected anticipatory bail to the Somaiyas in the case. But they were granted relief from arrest by the Bombay High Court. * What did the police say in its closure report? The investigating agency, EOW, filed a C-summary closure report on August 8, saying that its probe showed that the crime came under the category of “neither true”, “nor false”, and was filed due to a misunderstanding. The investigating officer told the court that statements of 38 people who had contributed money for the cause at a drive held at Churchgate Station were recorded. The officer said that Rs 10,000 was collected during the one-hour drive, and that it was impossible that Rs 57 crore could have been gathered in such a short span. The officer further said that on the same day, Somaiya went to meet the Governor to hand over the money, but the latter was not present. The police said Somaiya told them that he collected Rs 11,000, which was handed over to the Governor, and denied any wrongdoing. What did the court say? In its order on August 8, the magistrate court rejected the closure report filed by the investigating officer and said that further investigation was necessary. The court also said that the officer had not looked into what was done with the entire amount collected by the Somaiyas during collection drives conducted in Mumbai in 2013-14. “Investigating officer has not placed any document on record showing that said amount was deposited by the accused either with the office of Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra or with the Government. Thus, in this matter, the investigating officer has not done investigation as to what has been done by the accused with the amount collected by them,” S P Shinde, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, said. The court noted that collection drives had been held in other places as well apart from Churchgate, and the investigating officer had not made an effort to record statements of people there. It, therefore, directed the officer to continue the investigation. What importance does Somaiya hold for the BJP? A BJP MP from Mumbai North-East seat during 2014-2019, Somaiya has been in the news in recent years for making allegations of multiple scams and wrongdoings against Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress leaders who had been part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government between 2019 and 2022. Somaiya has also approached state and Central agencies seeking probes and action against them. The allegations made by Somaiya include those against Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut over a Goregaon redevelopment project, in which the MP was arrested and later granted bail. Soon after the court rejected the closure report in the complaint against him, Raut tweeted, saying: “Satyamev Jayate, Hisaab toh Dena hi Padega (Truth prevails. One must account for one’s deeds).” Incidentally, Somaiya says this every time he makes an accusation against Opposition leaders.
