Mumbai, Oct 16 (IANS) Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, the co-accused in a Rs 60 crore fraud involving her businessman husband Raj Kundra, has dropped plans to travel to Los Angeles and withdrawn a petition from the Bombay High Court seeking relaxation in the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against her, a lawyer said on Thursday.
The High Court will now hear the couple’s plea seeking the quashing of the LOC on November 17, he said.
The actresses’ advocates on Thursday told Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad that Shilpa shetty’s trip to appear in an event with US influencer Mr. Beast has been cancelled.
The case against Kundra and Shetty, who were directors of now-defunct Best Deal TV Private Limited, a home shopping and online retail platform, was registered in Mumbai on August 14 for allegedly duping businessman Deepak Kothari of nearly Rs 60 crore in a loan-cum-investment deal.
On Thursday, Kothari’s advocates alleged perjury by the actress and claimed during the court hearing that an affidavit filed in court by Shilpa Shetty seeking permission to fly out of the country had many infirmities, including absence of her signature on one of the pages.
Kothari’s lawyers even alleged forgery while preparing the affidavit and its notary process.
The court gave Kothari’s advocates the liberty to pursue the matter and seek action against the actress for the alleged wrongdoings in connection with the affidavit.
Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra last month filed a petition in the High Court seeking suspension of the LOC issued against them by the police in the case so that they could travel for their professional commitments and leisure trips abroad.
The court last week, however, said it cannot permit leisure trips when the duo is accused in the cheating and fraud case.
The couple’s petition had sought suspension of the LOC from October 2025 to January 2026.
On October 10, Raj Kundra claimed during police questioning that his business faced financial loss due to demonetisation.
During the questioning, Raj Kundra told Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) that his company traded in electrical and household appliances; however, the company incurred significant losses after demonetisation.
He said that due to the financial crisis, the company was unable to repay the borrowed funds.
This is the second time Kundra’s statement was recorded in the matter.
Officials told that he will be summoned again in the coming weeks.
The EOW also questioned Shilpa for nearly four-and-a-half hours in the matter.
Businessman Kothari alleged that Rs 60 crore given to Shilpa shetty and Raj Kundra in the name of business expansion between 2015 and 2023 was actually squandered on personal expenses.
–IANS
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