According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ahmedabad has framed criminal charges against Rajya Sabha MP of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC) Saket Gokhale under the anti-money laundering statute on 13th August. The Gujarat Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against him, citing misappropriation of cash obtained through crowdsourcing.
The Hon’ble Principal District and Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) and Designated Special Court (PMLA), Ahmedabad, today i.e. 13.08.2024 framed the Criminal Charges against Saket Gokhale, M.P., Rajya Sabha
— ED (@dir_ed) August 13, 2024
The ED apprehended Gokhale in January 2023. The federal probe agency case stems from an official complaint submitted by Gujarat Police. The 31-year-old MP was the subject of a charge sheet submitted by the ED last year by the anti-money laundering law. Gokhale’s request to halt the PMLA proceedings until the court decided on the scheduled offence case that was filed against him under Section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was also denied by the special court. He was arrested by the Gujarat Police in December 2022 after they suspected him of embezzling money obtained via crowdsourcing.
The ED informed the court that “huge amounts of money collected through crowdfunding by Gokhale have been squandered on speculative share trading, dining, and other personal expenses, which appear to be extravagant in nature.” A special court did, however, give Gokhale regular bail in May of last year in connection with a money laundering case involving anomalies.
Gokhale was ordered by the Delhi High Court earlier in July to compensate Union Minister Hardeep Puri’s wife Lakshmi Puri for defamation with Rs 50 lakhs after he was sued for defamation by Lakshmi Puri due to his offensive remarks on social media. The dispute started as a result of several public remarks and tweets made by Gokhale, which Lakshmi Puri alleged were deceptive and damaging to her reputation. She reportedly suffered significant anguish and reputational harm as a result of these remarks, which purportedly touched on her financial affairs and public behaviour. Lakshmi Puri’s legal team, Karanjawala & Company, reported that the court ordered Gokhale to stop releasing more offensive material regarding the plaintiff.
The Enforcement Directorate stated that a charge sheet was lodged against him under the anti-money laundering sections after his detention last year. “Charges against him for the scheduled offence in the police case (Gujarat Police) had also been framed.”
