SC protects Shreyas Talpade, Alok Nath from arrest in cheating case

The Supreme Court on Monday protected actors Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath from arrest till investigation concludes in a case of cheating and breach of trust against a society.

During the hearing before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, Talpade's counsel said the actor was called as a guest celebrity in the annual event of the company. "I am not supposed to know. I never earned any money," the lawyer said.

Nath's lawyer submitted that the actor has not attended any function and his photo has been used 10 years.

"If a top actor or a cricketer is giving his advertisement or appearing as a brand ambassador for corporate company which goes into liquidation or there are criminal cases against the company will it also go against the cricketer or actor?  "We dispose of this writ petition (filed by Talpade) by continuing the interim order of protection from arrest granted by us until the investigation into the offences against the petitioner is complete," the bench said.

The top court was hearing pleas filed by Talpade and Nath for clubbing of FIRs registered in various states in connection with the case.

Thirteen people, including Talpade and Nath, were booked on the complaint of 37-year-old Sonipat resident Vipul Antil.

Antil alleged that both the actors "promoted the Human Welfare Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, as brand ambassadors".

About the two actors, the police said, "It has been alleged that they were its brand ambassadors and victims get lured to invest because of such personalities. They were named in the complaint. An FIR has been registered. Now, it will be investigated what was their role."  The FIR was registered on January 22 under Sections 316 (2), 318 (2) and 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, for various offences, including criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The police alleged that the society committed a "serious crime of cheating the public through financial schemes".