Plea rejected, DSK and wife sent to jail

PUNE: A special court here on Thursday rejected prominent developer D S Kulkarni’s plea for interim relief to enable him undertake medical treatment at the Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital. He and his wife, Hemanti, were sent to the Yerawada central jail here after the court ordered their remand in judicial custody till March 15.
Kulkarni, also known as DSK, moved the plea soon after special judge J T Utpat had remanded him and his wife in judicial custody. DSK claimed that his health was showing the same signs which had prompted the police to shift him to Sassoon General Hospital on February 18. He pleaded that the medical facilities at the Yerawada jail were not adequate.

The court, however, cited a report by Sassoon hospital, which examined him at 12.12pm on Thursday. It said that as of now there was no medical report that warranted his treatment in a private hospital. “We will hope that nothing will happen to him,” Utpat told DSK’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade.

The court also posted for March 5 the hearing of three other applications, including a regular bail plea, moved by Shivade on behalf of DSK and his wife. The couple is facing a probe after DSK’s group of companies defaulted on repaying deposits with interest to several people since 2016-17. The couple was arrested on February 17.

Shivade furnished photocopies of demand drafts worth Rs 6.55 crore drawn in favour of DSK Developers Ltd and said that the money is to be received against the surrender of DSK’s rights in a property redevelopment project of the State Bank of India Cooperative Society at Nagpada in Thane district.

Shivade submitted that this money can be used for repaying the dues of those depositors who were in urgent need. However, he said, the economic offences wing in Mumbai had stalled this transaction. The money can be received after an agreement over surrender of rights is signed, he said.

Shivade further submitted that the DSK School of Design, which has a loan burden of Rs 100 crore with the Central Bank of India, has been valued at Rs 804 crore and, as of now, DSK’s total liablity towards the depositors is Rs 232 crore. Shivade submitted that a buyer is ready to take over this property provided the court permitted this transaction. This would not only enable clearance of the depositors’ dues but also the bank loan. He claimed that this property was not attached.

Shivade also furnished ano-ther list of “unencumbered” properties valued at Rs 784 crore and said DSK wanted to sell these provided the police cooperated with him. He said DSK was ready to surrender the title deeds of these properties. However, to ensure all these transactions, the court needed to grant the couple interim bail for a few days, he submitted.

Judge Utpat said the court would deal with these pleas “on merits without any prejudice” and directed the prosecution to file a say by March 5.