States »WesPosted at: Aug 17 2021 8:09PM HC grants bail to Mrs. Hemanti Deepak Kulkarni, Director of high profile DSK Group
Pune Aug 17 ( UNI): Bombay High today granted the bail of Hemanti Deepak Kulkarni wife of Deepak kulkarni.
Deepak Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti Kulkarni of the DSK Developers through their lawyer Adv. Aashutosh Srivastava had sought bail from the Bombay High Court citing old age amidst the pandemic and that he has spent 3.5 years behind bars without trial.
The court subsequently granted the bail of DSK wife Hemanti today after hearing the long arguments, said adv Srivastava.
Adv Srivastava further said that Kulkarni and his wife were arrested on February 17, 2018, for allegedly duping investors to the tune of Rs 2,000 crores.
His bail application was heard before Justice PD Naik on 06th Aug.
Adv. Srivastava assisted by his junior Adv. Ritesh Yeolekar argued that Kulkarni has been in prison since his arrest and the trial has not commenced as yet. “Considering the age of the applicants (Kulkarni & his wife), thet should be granted bail especially in view of this pandemic.
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) had filed chargesheet in the case in May 2018 before the special court under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act [MPID Act]. Even the supplementary chargesheet was filed in August 2018, said Srivastava.
However, the charges have not been framed and trial has also not commenced.
“The MPID court earlier had rejected Kulkarni’s bail application in November 2019 stating that the trial was to commence as soon as possible but trial has not yet commenced argued Srivastava.
Srivastava also pointed out that according to the EOW, Kulkarni had to repay Rs 2,081 crore to investors and of this, Rs 1,997 crore has already been repaid.
The EOW and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have already attached all movable and immovable properties of Kulkarni and his wife which are valued at Rs. 904 crore though it's old valuation and will have much greater market value today. In addition, bank accounts having a balance of Rs 4.31 crore have been frozen. Other properties like LIC policies, luxury cars and FDs are also attached.
“Rs. 904 crore is based on government valuation or amount taken at agreement value, i.e. when the properties were purchased. Current market value of the attached properties will be 3-4 times this value. Some attachment of the properties are more than the outstanding liabilities,” argued Srivastava.
On a court query, Srivastava said that Forensic Audit Report was still awaited which will give a proper valuation of the attached properties based on market rate.
Kulkarni has been charged with various sections under the Indian Penal Code and MPID Act. Kulkarni has been in jail since his arrest, which is nearly half the imprisonment sentence, if found guilty
Srivastava said: “The courts have said that an undertrial prisoner can't be detained indefinitely if the trial doesn’t commence. Here age is also the factor as both are old aged.”
The Public Prosecutor opposed the bail plea saying that there was misappropriation of funds to the tune of over Rs 2,000 crore. Also, a false affidavit was filed saying that the money will be coming from Singapore, which never happened. This was cheating the investors.
The prosecutor said that the MPID court was to frame charges in the coming week. “There was a delay as the special judge was hospitalised due to Covid,” said the prosecutor.
The prosecution will be examining a maximum 17 witnesses of the list of 23 witnesses submitted before the MPID court.
The HC considering all the aspects today granted bail only to Mrs. Hemanti Deepak Kulkarni wife of Mr. DSK and director of the DSK Group of Companies, he said.
UNI SP JM 2006