Actor Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra have moved the Bombay High Court challenging ED’s notice directing them to vacate their house in Mumbai’s Juhu area and a farmhouse in Pune in connection with a money-laundering case. The pleas came up for hearing Today (Oct 9) before a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan. The court issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday (Oct 10).
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MAHARASHTRA: Actor Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband, Raj Kundra, have approached the Bombay High Court to contest a notice issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), directing them to vacate their residence in Mumbai’s Juhu area and a farmhouse in Pune. The notice is part of an ongoing investigation related to a money-laundering case.
The couple’s petitions were brought before a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday. The court has issued a notice to the ED and scheduled the next hearing for Thursday.
The ED’s eviction notice, dated September 27, instructed Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra to vacate their properties within 10 days in connection with a money-laundering case linked to an alleged Bitcoin fraud. The couple, however, received the notice on October 3, and their lawyer, Prashant Patil, called the notice “arbitrary and illegal,” urging the court to quash it.
The petitions filed by Shetty and Kundra argue that no eviction order or notice can be issued before a conviction. They also claim that there is no urgency requiring the petitioners to vacate their properties, making the issuance of the notices unjustified.
“The petitioners are also seeking relief on humanitarian grounds as the premise in question is their residential premise in which they have been staying with their family of six members for almost two decades,”
-the petitions state.
They have requested the court to stay the effect of the eviction notices.
The money-laundering case dates back to 2018 when the ED filed a complaint against Amit Bhardwaj and others for an alleged Bitcoin fraud. While Shetty and Kundra are not named as accused in the case, the ED summoned Kundra multiple times for questioning. Kundra complied with all summonses.
In April 2024, the couple received a notice from the ED, provisionally attaching their assets, including their Juhu residence, which was purchased by Kundra’s father in 2009. In response to the notice, both Shetty and Kundra submitted their replies.
Despite this,
“the adjudicating authority confirmed the provisional attachment order on September 18, 2024,”
-according to the pleas. The order specified that the attachment would remain in effect until the conclusion of the trial, subject to the outcome of the case.
The couple’s legal filing emphasizes that the eviction notices they received on October 3 are based on this order, but they argue that their residential property is not connected to the alleged crime or its proceeds.
Additionally, they stress that Kundra has no involvement in the alleged Bitcoin fraud.
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