Shilpa Shetty Withdraws Travel Plea Amid Rs 60-Crore Fraud Probe

Actor Shilpa Shetty has formally withdrawn her interim petition seeking permission to travel abroad amid a Rs 60-crore fraud probe involving her and husband Raj Kundra, the Bombay High Court was informed on Thursday. The move comes after the court signalled strong reservations about granting the couple permission.

Advocate Niranjan Mundargi, appearing for Shetty, told a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad that the foreign trip - to the US for a "professional commitment," reportedly linked to an international video collaboration - "did not materialise," and that she was not pressing the current travel request. He was allowed to file a fresh application if the couple wished to travel in the future. 

The main writ petition challenging the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against Shetty and Kundra has been listed for further hearing on November 17.

During the hearing, complainant's counsel Yusuf Iqbal objected to an affidavit dated October 14 submitted by Shetty, stating it was "not notarised in accordance with law." He alleged that Shetty had not signed the affidavit before the notary.

Mundargi stated that he had no instructions regarding the notarisation issue. "Be that as it may, the applicant is not intending to travel as of now and seeks liberty to withdraw," he submitted. 

The case was registered following a complaint by businessman Deepak Kothari, who alleged that he was induced to invest Rs 60 crore in Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, a company linked to Shetty and Kundra, and that the funds were diverted for personal use.

Earlier this month, the High Court had rejected the couple's plea to travel to Phuket, observing that the applicants had failed to produce credible documents to justify the trip and noting that the investigation into the alleged fraud was still ongoing.