Pune: The Bombay High Court on Monday granted builder Deepak S. Kulkarni a 72-hour extension of his interim relief to repay investors.
Mr. Kulkarni, who is accused of fraud, has been granted several breathers since the first FIR filed against him and his wife in Pune in October last year. He was given a temporary lifeline after his lawyers submitted evidence that the builder had the requisite resources to repay ₹50 crore to the investors as mandated by the High Court.
Extending the beleaguered developer’s relief, Justice Sadhana Jadhav directed Mr. Kulkarni to deposit the amount in the court registry by January 25.
Arguing that the attachment of his properties had caused difficulties in procuring the money, Mr. Kulkarni’s lawyers submitted in court that the builder was due to receive amount to the tune of USD 80 lakh (approx Rs. 51 crore) from one of his concerns abroad.
This sum, according to Mr. Kulkarni’s counsel, would suffice to repay investors. Evidence of this transaction was furnished before the court.
On December 19 last year, the Bombay High Court, after providing an extended breather to him for a fortnight, had cancelled Mr. Kulkarni’s interim relief, following which the Pune police claimed that the builder was ‘absconding’.
The developer and his wife, Hemanti, accused of duping thousands of investors across Pune, Mumbai and Kolhapur, had then filed an online SLP in the Supreme Court on December 20 seeking further extension of his interim relief in a bid to stave off arrest.
The Apex court, while granting Mr. Kulkarni a four-week relief period ( till January 19 this year) made it clear that no further extension would be granted to him and accordingly disposed off the builder’s SLP.
On January 19, Mr. Kulkarni was given yet another brief extension of his interim relief.
A total five of FIRs across Pune, Mumbai and Kolhapur have been lodged against the developer and his family since October 28 last year, with more than 3000 investors filing cheating complaints against Mr. Kulkarni.
More than 8,000 persons, a majority of them senior citizens, are said to have invested in the DSK group’s fixed deposit (FD) scheme. The developer is said to owe an excess of Rs. 600 crore to investors.
On November 8 last year, a special court in Pune had quashed the interim bail application of Mr. Kulkarni and his wife.
The Kulkarnis, facing prospect of arrest, had then moved the Bombay High Court against the Pune court’s order and were granted interim relief, which was extended periodically for nearly a month on promise of repayment to investors.
