New Delhi: The Gujarat high court has dismissed Saket Gokhale’s bail application in a case where the Trinamool Congress spokesperson is accused of misappropriating funds collected in an online campaign, Bar and Bench has reported.
A single judge bench of Justice Samir Dave noted on January 23 that the allegations against Gokhale were “serious”. The police are yet to file a charge sheet in the case.
“It appears that the prosecution has clearly established a prima facie case against the accused,” the court said, according to Bar and Bench.
Gokhale is accused of having received money from several people and using them for his own purposes rather than towards the welfare of poor people, as he had claimed. The court said that witness statements say Gokhale received money from a total of 1,768 persons.
The court said that it is to be decided if some of the transactions – most of which were made online – had been done for his personal use.
Gokhale was arrested by Gujarat police on December 29 in this case. This was his third arrest in that month.
Gokhale was first arrested on December 6, 2022, by the Gujarat Police’s Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly spreading fake news – through a tweet – regarding the cost incurred during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi town following a bridge collapse that killed over 134 people.
On December 8, soon after he received bail, the Gokhale was again arrested by Gujarat police for the same offence. He got bail on December 9.
Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Gokhale on money laundering charges on January 25 this year.