Gokhale institute fund diversion case: Milind Deshmukh granted bail by Pune court

Deshmukh’s lawyer, Ujjwala Pawar, told The Indian Express, “Yesterday (Saturday), the operative order was passed for my bail application, and he has been released on bail of Rs 50,000 surety and attendance before the police station till filing of the chargesheet. He will be released today (Sunday).”

Deshmukh and others have been charged with fraud and cheating. According to the FIR that led to Deshmukh’s arrest, GIPE’s income is derived from government and University Grants Commission (UGC) funds, in addition to student fees.

The FIR stated that as per UGC norms, these funds from the accounts of GIPE cannot be transferred to any other bank accounts or sponsored organisations. It was alleged in the FIR that Deshmukh wrote a letter demanding Rs 1.5 crore from GIPE to change the ‘lease hold’ status of SIS land in Nagpur to ‘free hold’. Deshmukh was removed as secretary of the SIS on April 11 after his arrest by the Deccan police on April 5.

Deshmukh was produced before a magistrate court in Pune on April 5. The police informed the court that he had been booked last year, too, in connection with another case of cheating and forgery related to land owned by the Mahadev Govind Ranade Charitable Trust at Shewalewadi in the Pune district.

The SIS then formed a financial committee to scrutinise the various transactions which had taken place under Deshmukh. It also removed Deshmukh from the post of secretary and asked president Damodar Sahoo to take over the charge.