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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Bank accounts, realty deals under SIT lens

Mumbai: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing self-styled godman Ashok Kharat has widened its investigation, turning the spotlight on his financial empire with a detailed scrutiny of bank accounts held by him, his family and close associates. Investigators have so far identified five bank accounts linked to Kharat across major lenders: State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Saraswat Bank and Vishwas Cooperative Bank. These accounts hold deposits totalling Rs 40.87 crore...

Bank accounts, realty deals under SIT lens

Mumbai: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing self-styled godman Ashok Kharat has widened its investigation, turning the spotlight on his financial empire with a detailed scrutiny of bank accounts held by him, his family and close associates. Investigators have so far identified five bank accounts linked to Kharat across major lenders: State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Saraswat Bank and Vishwas Cooperative Bank. These accounts hold deposits totalling Rs 40.87 crore and are now under the scanner to trace sources, transaction trails and possible beneficiaries. Sleuths suspect that the accounts may reveal financial links to a web of property deals, investments and other transactions — both legitimate and dubious — and the SIT is now examining possible offences such as tax evasion and money laundering. Earlier this week, the SIT informed a Nashik court that raids carried out at Kharat’s office, farmhouse and other premises led to the seizure of Rs 6.53 lakh in cash, two laptops, multiple mobile phones, a DVR system, hidden cameras, and gold ornaments — 20 tolas from his wife and 12 tolas in his name. Simultaneously, Kharat’s chartered accountants, Prashant Palde and Kiran Kataria, told investigators that the accused had travelled extensively abroad in recent years, visiting countries including the United States, France, Australia, UAE, Peru, Malaysia, Indonesia and more. The SIT has also approached the Inspector General of Stamps, Pune, to help detect additional properties linked to Kharat and his network. Realty Investments So far, the investigators have uncovered a sprawling portfolio of realty investments comprising agriculture, commercial, bungalows, flats, etc., spread in Nashik, Pune, Ahilyanagar and even Raigad, standing in the names of Kharat or his family or certain business associates. They include: 33 acres of land and a farmhouse (Mirgaon); 10 acres of land (Pathardi village); 6 acres (Sinnar); 4.5 acres in own name and 5.5 acres (Shirdi and Kakadi); an 800-sq.ft flat and a bungalow in Karmayogi Nagar (Nashik); plots totalling 12 gunthas (around 12,000 feet in Ojhar); 6 gunthas (Adgaon, Nashik); 11 gunthas in daughter Shrusti’s name and a plot (Sangamner and Pune); a 180 sq.ft office at Canada Corner (Nashik); a marriage hall in partnership with others (Shirdi); 6 acres as a joint partner with five others (Sinnar). Public Prosecutor Ajay Missar told the court that the SIT is probing whether more undisclosed assets exist, while also examining if questionable transactions led to losses to the public exchequer. Authorities are coordinating with the Income Tax Department as part of the financial probe. One transaction under the radar involves a two-hectare agricultural plot in Mirgaon, donated to Kharat’s Shri Shivnika Sansthan Trust by a Mumbai-based devotee. The land was reportedly purchased in May 2019 for Rs 24 lakh and transferred to the trust almost immediately through a gift deed. However, the same gift deed document pegged the land’s market value at Rs 32 lakh — a shocking jump of Rs 8 lakh within hours — raising red flags over possible irregularities or manipulation in valuation, with likely connivance of officials. The Shri Ishaneshwar Temple on the land was constructed in 2009–2010, allegedly using public contributions, as claimed by several political leaders.   Fear of ‘Elimination’ Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve has raised concerns, alleging that those exposed in the recovered videos could attempt to eliminate the godman — currently in police custody. Danve claimed that as more explicit material surfaces, individuals implicated in the videos may ‘join hands to silence him through an extra-judicial killing to prevent further revelations.’

Signal Failure

India’s space programme has long thrived on a careful blend of ambition and thrift. It has sent probes to Mars on a shoestring, soft-landed on the Moon, and readied astronauts for orbit. Yet prestige projects can sometimes cast long shadows. The recent failure of the last operational atomic clock aboard IRNSS-1F, a satellite in India’s homegrown navigation system, has exposed a sobering reality: when it comes to strategic infrastructure, India cannot afford such lapses.


The Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system was born of necessity. During the 1999 Kargil War, the United States had declined to share critical GPS data with India. The lesson was stark. A sovereign nation, particularly one with fraught borders, cannot depend on foreign systems for military navigation. NavIC was meant to correct that vulnerability. It was an indigenous alternative offering both civilian and encrypted military signals with far greater accuracy for strategic use.


Today, that promise looks fragile. With IRNSS-1F’s atomic clocks all defunct, only three satellites in the constellation remain capable of providing navigation services. That is below the minimum threshold required for a fully functional system. Atomic clocks are the beating heart of satellite navigation, enabling the precise timing that determines position. Their repeated failure across the first-generation satellites raises uncomfortable questions about design resilience, testing protocols and long-term maintenance.


Modern armed forces depend heavily on satellite navigation for logistics, targeting, troop movement and synchronised operations. In peacetime, foreign systems such as GPS may suffice. In wartime, they are liabilities. Signals can be degraded, denied or spoofed. A military that cannot fully trust its positioning data is one operating with a lethal handicap.


India’s efforts to rectify these gaps have been uneven. The failed attempt to replace IRNSS-1A with IRNSS-1H in 2017 was an early warning. The second-generation NVS series was meant to stabilise the constellation, but progress has faltered here too. While NVS-01 was successfully launched, the failure of NVS-02 in 2025 has delayed subsequent missions. The result is a thinning constellation struggling to meet even baseline requirements.


All this might have been mitigated with sharper prioritisation. Instead, attention has drifted toward headline-grabbing missions like the human spaceflight under Gaganyaan, and participation in international ventures such as Axiom Mission 4. While these are worthy achievements that signal technological prowess and bolster national pride, they do not substitute for the quiet, unglamorous work of maintaining critical strategic systems.


Space programmes, like defence budgets, must be guided by hierarchy of needs. Strategic autonomy should come first while political optics, however tempting, must come last.


While setbacks are inevitable in complex technological endeavours, the difference lies in how those failures are addressed. We must do a candid reassessment of our programme management.


NavIC was conceived as a shield against strategic vulnerability. Allowing it to atrophy would defeat its very purpose. India has shown it can reach the stars. It must now ensure that, closer to Earth, its foundations do not falter. 


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