Gujarat high court refuses bail to TMC's Saket Gokhale

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Monday denied regular bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesman Saket Gokhale in connection with charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy for which cybercrime sleuths arrested him last month.
Justice Samir Dave rejected Gokhale's bail plea, saying Gokhale may come for bail after filing of the chargesheet in this case.
Gokhale's lawyer urged the court for a reasoned order considering two judgements of the Supreme Court - Arnesh Kumar and Satyendra Kumar - that he cited to make the point that the charges invoked entail punishment of up to seven years, and the SC orders restrict police from effecting the arrest an accused straightaway.
Gokhale was booked for the alleged offences after gathering Rs 48 lakh through crowdfunding. A complainant from Gandhinagar claimed to have donated Rs 500 to him, but later found that there was no account for the money and Gokhale allegedly used it for personal purposes.
Gokhale's advocate submitted that he has been made a scapegoat, as this has been his third arrest by Gujarat Police.
It was submitted that Gokhale is a national spokesperson of a political party and not a hardened criminal. There is no chance of him jumping bail, and he showed willingness to deposit Rs 5-10 lakh to demonstrate bona fide.
When the judge said that Gokhale may take his chance for bail after the chargesheet is filed in the case, Gokhale's lawyer submitted that for frivolous charges he will have to remain in jail for 60 days, and that he suffers from various ailments. The judge said it has already been a month since his arrest, and he would have to wait for one month only.
Gokhale was earlier arrested twice, first in Ahmedabad and then in Morbi for tweeting an allegedly fake news clip on the Morbi suspension bridge collapse case which claimed that Rs 30 crore was spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Morbi visit.
He was granted bail immediately on both occasions by magisterial courts upon his production after completion of custodial interrogation.