NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Gujarat government on a bail plea by Trinamool Congress spokesperson and activist Saket Gokhale in a case related to alleged misuse of money collected through crowdfunding.
A bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath issued notice to the state government seeking its reply to the petition within two weeks.
Appearing for Gokhale, senior advocate A M Singhvi sought a shorter date for response.
He had earlier claimed the petitioner always maintained that the money collected from crowdfunding would also be used for personal sustenance.
The petitioner challenged the validity of the Gujarat High Court's order of January 23 refusing him bail.
Gokhale was arrested from Delhi after an FIR was lodged on December 28, 2022 by Ahmedabad police for offence u/s 120B, 420, 467,471 of IPC.
The FIR alleged that Gokhale, claiming himself an RTI Activist and a social worker on his various social media platforms, raised over Rs one Crore for filing RTIs for public purposes and other social activities in the interest of the public but utilised the money for other purposes, including personal luxuries and lavish living.
Gokhale was also arrested on January 25, 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate under the provision of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
