A court in Mumbai on Sunday granted bail to gangster-turned-legislator Arun Gawli, arrested for allegedly misappropriating funds he was supposed to disburse among members of his Akhil Bharatiya Kamgar Sena.
Gawli, who was arrested on Saturday by the Economic Offences Wing of police, was released on bail for Rs 1 lakh and ordered to furnish a surety of the same amount by a holiday court presided over by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S Y Shisode.
The legislator from Chinchpokli in central Mumbai was directed by the court to report to police after December 20, when the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature, beginning in Nagpur from Monday, would end.
Rejecting the prosecution's plea for Gawli to be remanded to police custody, the court noted he had taken money from the people concerned with their consent, and the investigation did not necessitate his interrogation in custody.
Earlier, the prosecution said the ABKS, the union started by Gawli's political party, had received Rs 4 crore from two companies and the amount was to be disbursed among union members who worked for these firms. It alleged Gawli had been siphoning off money from the bank account in which the amount was kept and using it for his personal work, while not paying the workers.
Gawli's counsel Ishwariprasad Bagaria said the workers had been paid and they had consented to pay the union Rs 1.16 crore as charges for expenditure incurred by them.
He argued that seven alleged complainants had earlier claimed they had not been paid but had since received the money due to them from Gawli. Bagaria said the accounts could be probed by police without arresting Gawli.
Bagaria said these seven persons had not been present to collect the money when it was disbursed by ABKS. They collected it later and there was no criminal breach of trust by Gawli as was alleged by police.
He alleged police had targeted Gawli in the past by trying to falsely implicate him in criminal cases and that there was a political motive behind arresting him in this case.
Granting bail to Gawli, the court observed that while police must ensure that the interests of the public are protected, they needed to be sure of what their jurisdiction was.
Gawli, dressed in a white shirt, trousers and a Gandhi cap, was produced in a court room that was packed with his supporters and reporters. He was calm throughout the proceedings and occasionally spoke to the policemen accompanying him.
After being granted bail, Gawli, followed by his eager supporters, was taken back to the office of the Economic Offences Wing by police and later released. Gawli was arrested by police for allegedly misappropriating Rs 85 lakh, which he was supposed to pay to some members of ABKS.
Police said he was arrested after he allegedly admitted to having taken the funds for the Shivshambhu Trust floated by him and for the activities of his political party, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena of which he is president.
