Surendra in judicial custody, wife’s plea deferred

Surendra Shetty, actress Shilpa Shetty’s father, was today sent to judicial custody till June 26 after Chief Judicial Magistrate R.P. Mehta rejected his application for further remand. The bail plea of his wife Sunanda was deferred till June 30 on health grounds.

Surendra appeared before the court after his term of remand in police custody expired today. During the three-day interrogation, police collected his voice sample to match with the ones recorded in a telephonic conversation with Pankaj Agarwal, owner of Prafull Sarees. He was brought to court amid tight police security. The arguments and counter arguments on the bail application submitted by the investigating agency continued till evening.

Surendra’s counsel Kalpesh Desai said, ‘‘Surendra’s fate will be decided on Thursday, when his bail application will come for hearing. If the bail application is rejected, he will have to stay in judicial custody for an indefinite period.’’

Later in the day, Surendra’s wife Sunanda also appeared before the court and urged the court to defer the case as she was undergoing treatment in a Mumbai hospital. The court postponed the hearing till June 30.