Pune, July 27 -- The Additional Sessions Court of Khed Rajgurunagar in Pune has ordered a reinvestigation into a 2017 abetment to suicide case involving industrialist Amit Kalyani, vice chairman and joint managing director of Bharat Forge. The case had earlier been closed after the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed a 'B' summary report, which a trial court accepted. However, that closure has now been overturned following a revision application filed by the family of the deceased, with the sessions court ruling that several key aspects of the investigation had been overlooked.

Responding to the court's order, a legal counsel for Amit Kalyani said that they are examining the order and will seek appropriate remedies in accordance with due process of law.

"Prima facie, there is nothing against our client in the Order. The order appears grossly erroneous and is an attempt by petitioners involved to harass our client and malign his reputation in the media. The accountant involved had siphoned off significant amounts from Kalyani Technotherm to his personal bank account and a charge sheet in this regard was filed way back by Mundhwa police with Hon'ble court," India Today quoted the counsel as saying.

The case stems from the death of Nilesh Gaikwad, an assistant manager at Kalyani Technoforge Ltd (KTFL), a Kalyani Group company.

Gaikwad died by suicide on August 20, 2017, leaving an 11-page note claiming he had handed Rs 15 crore to Kalyani for a Rs 60 lakh commission, but was hounded by auditors when the money wasn't returned. Unable to cope, he ended his life, the note said. Gaikwad's brother Manoj registered an FIR under IPC Section 306 at Chakan Police Station, then under the jurisdiction of Pune Rural Police. Within days, KTFL's then whole-time director and CEO-now its managing director-wrote to the police alleging that Gaikwad had siphoned off Rs 8.72 crore from the company's bank accounts into his personal account, the India Today report said.

The case was subsequently transferred from Chakan Police Station to the EOW, which, after conducting its probe, submitted a 'B' summary closure report to the Khed Magistrate Court, terming the allegations "malicious and exonerating Kalyani". The trial court accepted this closure report in 2023, effectively ending the case.

However, Gaikwad's wife Karuna and brother Manoj, arguing that the investigation had been carried out in a partisan manner, challenged the closure and filed a revision application before the Khed Rajgurunagar district court.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.