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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the State of Gujarat on the appeal file by activist Saket Gokhale against a Gujarat High Court order refusing him bail in connection with a misappropriation of funds case [Saket Suhas Gokhale v. State of Gujarat].
A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath sought a response from the Gujarat government within two weeks.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for Gokhale.
Gokhale, who is also a Trinamool Congress spokesperson, has moved the top court challenging a Gujarat High Court order last month that had dismissed his bail application in connection with a case of misappropriating funds collected through an online campaign.
The High Court had noted that there was a prima facie case against Gokhale. It added that as per the statements of witnesses, he received money not only from the wife of the complainant, but also from 1,767 persons. These amounts, the Court noted, were collected using social media and most transactions were online.
A complaint was lodged against Gokhale by a deputy secretary in the State government on December 28, 2022, alleging that his wife had paid some amount as a contribution to the crowdfunding initiated by the TMC leader.
These funds were to be used for the welfare of the poor people. However, it was alleged that Gokhale misappropriated the funds for his personal expenses.
In his defence, Gokhale had argued that he was being targeted and was a victim of a political vendetta. He had claimed before the Gujarat 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 6 last year for a news clipping of a Right to Information (RTI) response he shared on Twitter stating that an amount of ₹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.
The appeal before the top court has been filed through advocate Mithu Jain.
