‘Why don’t you become approver against Accused No. 1 (Kundra)?’: HC remarks on Shilpa Shetty’s plea to travel abroad with son

The bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad was hearing an interim application in a plea challenging the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them in connection with the probe by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Maharashtra Police in a Rs 60 crore cheating case.

The LOC restricts their travels abroad.

On October 6, the bench had orally asked the couple to deposit Rs 60 crore before pursuing their plea to travel abroad.

On Tuesday, advocate Niranjan Mundargi for Shetty argued that she had been invited to participate in a YouTube event in the US and had received her travel tickets to the same.

When court queried lack of formal work agreement to support her claims, Shetty’s lawyer said the same can be signed after court’s travel approval.

The lawyers said that she intended to travel for five days to the US next week along with her son, while her mother and daughter would remain in the city with her husband.

Mundargi further told the bench that the main accused in the case was Kundra and there was no specific or direct allegation against Shetty and the probing agency merely said she was one of the directors, and she had resigned in 2016.

Mundargi said that shetty has cooperated with the probe and her statements were recorded whenever she was summoned and that there was no other case lodged against her.

“Why don’t you become approver against accused no 1 (Kundra) then?,” CJ Chandrashekhar orally remarked and questioned Shetty.

On October 1, the HC had refused to pass an order granting interim relief to the couple who sought to travel to Phuket in Thailand on a family trip that week.

The couple had sought permission for their international travel plans, including a work trip to Los Angeles (LA) later this month, and a trip to the Maldives and Colombo for the expansion of Hotel Bastian, their hospitality venture, followed by London and Dubai travel in December and January to meet Kundra’s parents.

The lawyer for complainant in the case however raised an objection stating that while the original plea by the couple included a leisure trip to Colombo, now the petitioner has filed an interim application describing the Colombo trip on the same dates as a work trip.

The HC asked the Public Prosecutor to take instructions from officials in the matter and posted further hearing to Thursday.