PMLA Court Frames Criminal Charges Against TMC MP Saket Gokhale In Crowd-Funding Case

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale faces criminal charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) related to the alleged misuse of crowd-funded funds.

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ahmedabad has framed criminal charges against Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) confirmed on Tuesday. The charges are related to a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The Principal District and Sessions Judge of Ahmedabad (Rural), who also serves as the designated Special Court for PMLA cases, issued the charges against Gokhale, who is also a national spokesperson for the All India Trinamool Congress. The ED noted that a charge sheet had been filed against the 31-year-old MP last year under the anti-money laundering law. Charges for the scheduled offence in the Gujarat Police case had also been framed, news agency PTI reported.

The case against Gokhale originated from a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Gujarat Police, which led to his arrest in Delhi in December 2022. The arrest was linked to allegations of the misuse of funds Gokhale had collected through crowd-funding.

According to the ED, significant sums of money raised through crowd-funding were allegedly spent on speculative share trading, luxurious dining, and other personal expenses deemed extravagant. Gokhale, however, has denied any misuse of these funds.

Defamation Case Against Saket Gokhale

This comes after the Delhi High Court in July directed Saket Gokhale to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages in a defamation case filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, the wife of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. The defamation suit was filed following a series of tweets by Gokhale, in which he accused Lakshmi Puri of purchasing property in Switzerland beyond her known sources of income. He also implicated Hardeep Singh Puri in these allegations.

Karanjawala & Company, the law firm representing Lakshmi Puri, stated that the court restrained Gokhale from publishing further defamatory content against the plaintiff, news agency IANS reported. The court observed that Gokhale's statements had caused irreparable harm to Lakshmi Puri and ordered him to issue a public apology to the former diplomat.

In response to the court's ruling, Gokhale stated, "The order shall be appealed against and all legal steps will be taken within the purview of my fundamental rights", as quoted by IANS