Bombay High Court revokes relief from arrest granted to D S Kulkarni, wife
Sorry that we had trusted this man and the investors had faith in him: Court on real estate developer
Bombay High Court said the investigating agency was at liberty to arrest the accused booked on charges of cheating thousands of investors of Kulkarni’s DSK Group. (File Photo)
The Bombay High Court on Friday vacated the interim relief from arrest granted to Pune-based developer Deepak Sakharam Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti. The court said that the investigating agency was at liberty to arrest the accused, booked on charges of cheating thousands of investors of Kulkarni’s DSK Group. The court, in its observation, also stated that it found it difficult to trust the owner of the DSK group.
The court had granted interim relief to the accused so that they could repay the investors. However, on Thursday, Assistant Public Prosecutor Veera Shinde informed the court that the property DSK proposed to sell to Buldana Urban Co-operative Credit Society Ltd to raise money was already mortgaged to the Maharashtra Bank. The Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), Pravin Chavan, informed the court that the property appears to be reserved for public amenities. After the submission by prosecutors Shinde and Chavan, the court said it preponed the matter to Friday, from February 22. On Friday, advocate Manoj Mohite, representing the Kulkarnis, and advocate Ranjeet Sangle representing the Buldana Cooperative Bank, informed the court that the property proposed to be purchased and in favour of which a demand draft was submitted by Buldana Bank before the court is not the same property as stated by the prosecution.
“I was warning your manager (of Buldana Bank) that the court finds it difficult to trust this man,” the court said. The court further said it was given a hope of Rs 12 crore and 100 crore (to be paid to investors). “I should have rejected the anticipatory bail on the day when he was here but the court had a ray of hope,” the court said. The court, which had expected the DSK Group to return the investors’ money, said, “Don’t trust a man who can play with the court. I am sorry that we had trusted this man and the investors had faith in him. I feel sorry that SPP Chavan told me so many times that money could not come but we had hope from this man.”
The Buldana Bank said the bank had not carried out a title search of any property of Kulkarni. The meeting for taking the liability of Kulkarni was to be conducted on February 16 and 17. Calling the process lengthy and time consuming, the court said the accused may take advantage of that. The experience the court said it had from January 22, is that the Kulkarnis are buying time. “Their conduct speaks for itself,” the court observed. The court also said that time and again, the investors were losing trust. The accused cannot take for granted the court and the vulnerable investors who invested their hard-earned money. The court in the above view, passed an order vacating the interim relief granted to Kulkarni and his wife.
The court called for lawyers representing the Union of India and asked them to inform the passport authority and also aviation officials so that he does not flee the country. The court said it is passing the order after reading up on ‘how people flee the country.’ Justice S S Jadhav said, “We don’t know whether he has only one passport.” The court has also issued notice against Prabhune (Prabhune International Pvt Ltd, the Singapore based company supposed to transfer money to DSK) and sought an explanation why it should not be prosecuted for perjury.
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