The Bombay high court on October 8 sought details on an affidavit from actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, Raj Kundra, on why they needed to travel abroad and include formal communications about their “business trip”. The couple had petitioned the court for permission to travel to Colombo and other places.
They need court permission to travel abroad as there is a lookout circular (LOC) against them in an alleged Rs. 60-crore fraud case. The two filed a petition for quashing of the LOC.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad asked for details to establish that it was indeed a business trip. They were given time till October 14 to file the affidavit containing the details of the business trip. When the couple’s counsel reiterated that the travel was indeed for business purposes, the CJ smiled and quipped that the couple could first deposit Rs. 60 crore if they wished to travel abroad. No immediate orders about placing the LOC on hold to enable foreign travel were passed. The court will hear the matter next on October 14.
The Rs. 60-crore case was filed by the Enforcement Directorate based on a complaint by an owner of a capital financial services company, who alleged that money given to the couple for business purposes from 2015 to 2023 was used by them for personal expenses.
