Pune: Fraud-accused city builder Deepak S. Kulkarni on Tuesday called upon NCP leader Ajit Pawar in Mumbai. The half-an-hour meeting took place at the residence of Dhananjay Munde, the Leader of Opposition in the Council. Sources said the builder had approached Mr. Pawar in the hope of securing support to tide over his financial crisis.
On Monday, the Bombay High Court ordered Mr. Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti to report to the Economic Offences Wing office in Pune every day between February 7 and 11, after the builder failed yet again to deposit ₹50 crore in the court registry to repay investors.
Justice Sadhana Jadhav directed the couple to be present in person at the next hearing on February 13.
The court told the developer to beg or borrow the required money, but not return empty-handed at the next hearing.
Meanwhile, several investors in the developer’s projects have decided to approach the Supreme Court. “Investors have decided to follow up with the investigating authorities for a quick auction of the builder’s properties. They hope that the auction proceeds would enable them to redeem their funds,” said RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who has been spearheading the fight.
Last November, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had spoken on behalf of Mr. Kulkarni, advocating support for him, while assuring investors that the developer was no cheat.
Five FIRs across Pune, Mumbai, and Kolhapur have been lodged against the developer and his family since October 28 last year, with more than 3,000 investors filing cheating complaints against Mr. Kulkarni.
