Court remands DSK, his wife in police custody till March 1

Pune: The ongoing probe against developer D S Kulkarni — stalled because of his health condition — will gather a fresh momentum after special judge J T Utpat on Friday ordered his and his wife, Hemanti’s, remand in police custody till March 1.
The court also ordered that in case of any medical emergency during Kulkarni’s custodial interrogation, the investigating officer “shall provide him the best available treatment, preferably in Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital”.

Earlier, Kulkarni, also known as DSK, was sent to the Yerawada jail after a medical board of the Sassoon General Hospital ruled that he was fit to face the police interrogation. Around 3.30pm, the police moved the special court seeking his remand for custodial interrogation.

After the court’s order, joint commissioner of police Ravindra Kadam told TOI, “We will secure his (DSK’s) custody from the jail authorities tomorrow (Saturday) early morning.”

The Kulkarnis are facing probe over alleged cheating of several depositors by defaulting on repayment of their dues with interest.

On February 17, DSK and his wife were remanded in police custody till February 23. DSK was shifted to Sassoon General Hospital after he collapsed and slipped into unconsciousness in the police lock-up on February 18. The court then ordered his remand in judicial custody and allowed him to be moved to Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital. The developer was since under a physical evaluation process by the Sassoon medical board.

Hemanti, who had remained in police custody, was produced before the court at the end of her custodial remand on Thursday.

Money trail

Special public prosecutor Pravin Chavan moved a remand report seeking an eight-day extension of Hemanti’s custodial remand. He submitted, among other things, that the DSK companies purchased land parcels through different individuals paying a higher amount to them and far less amount to the original landowners. The police want to probe these deals.

Chavan submitted that the DSK entities collected a total of Rs1,153 crore in the name of deposits. Of it, Rs163 crore was diverted into the personal account of DSK’s son, Shirish, and the police wanted to find out how and where Shirish put this money.

Shirish has secured an interim protection from the Bombay High Court after his anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by the trial court on February 9. His pre-arrest bail plea would be heard in the high court on March 7.

Chavan also submitted that Rs90.94 crore were diverted into the personal account of DSK and another Rs463 crore were moved to Hemanti’s personal account. The police want to find out how and where this money was utilized, he submitted.

Animated argument

The court witnessed an animated argument between defence lawyer Shrikant Shivade and special prosecutor Chavan on if DSK’s police custody could be sought without producing him before the court and if the developer should be interrogated by the police under medical surveillance.

Shivade argued that DSK continued to carry a blood clot and needed monitoring of blood sugar and blood pressure parameters. As such, his interrogation should be done under medical surveillance and he be treated at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hosiptal in case of any medical emergency as Sassoon General Hospital was not competent enough to deal with such a situation.

When the court appeared reluctant to concede to his demand, Shivade submitted that the investigating officer must give a written undertaking about the responsibility in the event of anything goes wrong with DSK’s health if he would be moved to Sassoon General Hospital in an emergency. To this, Chavan replied that such expectation was strange. The court, too, expressed that there was no point in arguing over a “hypothetical” situation.

(With inputs from Mihir Tanksale)