Cheating case: Shilpa, Raj get court nod for overseas travel

Businessman Raj Kundra and his actress wife Shilpa Shetty have been granted permission by a sessions court to travel abroad after they sought relaxation of conditions in the anticipatory bail granted to them in a cheating case.
Sessions Judge SC Khalipe granted the permission on June 9 to the celebrity couple on certain conditions.
Aniket Nikam, the counsel for the duo stated in the plea that the couple wanted to travel to London, UK and USA between June 12 and July 21 for business-related work and submitted their tentative schedule about the business meetings there besides the IIFA awards on July 14-15.

The plea said that if the two were denied permission, it cause grave prejudice to their business.
It further submitted that the couple have been cooperating with the probe and all the necessary travel documents would be submitted to the Kongaon Police Station.
Assistant public prosecutor Vinit Kulkarni opposed the application, saying the offence is serious in nature.

"If the application is allowed there are strong chances of tampering and hampering the investigation as the accused are influential people. On the previous occasion, one of the accused has threatened the complainant in the court. Hence, the application deserves to be rejected," he said.

After hearing the defence and prosecution, the judge said that applicants had been granted anticipatory bail on the condition that they would not to leave the country.
However, when the investigation officer did not object to the application, the court granted permission to the duo to go ahead with their travel abroad.
They were also directed to submit their residence address, contact numbers in UK and USA. The court also told them to submit self attested copies of visa to the police station concerned and said that they will have to give an undertaking that they shall not stay in the UK and USA beyond July 21.

After their arrival they should intimate the police station as well as the court. The court pointed out that this compliance shall be done without fail or their permit will be cancelled.
On April 26, complainant Ravi Bhalotia, the proprietor of Bhalotia Exports had alleged in an FIR before Kongaon Police Station in Bhiwandi that he had delivered bedsheets through Best Deal TV (BDTV) but was yet to receive payment and has been duped of Rs 24 lakh.
Subsequently, a case was registered against Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra, Darshit Shah, Vedant Bali and Uday Kothari-who are all former directors of the BDTV company.

Later, on May 9, the five moved the Thane sessions court which granted interim bail to Shetty and Kundra and three others in the case of alleged cheating and breach of trust filed against them with Kongaon police.
They were granted pre-arrest bail on bond of Rs 50,000 each on May 19.