Actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, have approached the Bombay High Court, contesting notices from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that ordered them to vacate their Mumbai residence in Juhu and a farmhouse in Pune.
The notices are tied to an ongoing money laundering case.
The couple’s petitions were heard on Wednesday by a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan. The court has issued a notice to the ED and scheduled the next hearing for Thursday.
The eviction notices, issued on September 27, relate to a money-laundering investigation connected to an alleged Bitcoin fraud case involving Amit Bhardwaj. Although Shetty and Kundra have not been named as accused, the ED has directed them to vacate their properties within ten days.
Shetty and Kundra’s lawyer, Prashant Patil, argued that the notices, which were received on October 3, are arbitrary and unlawful, and he requested that they be quashed. The petitions argue that there is no immediate urgency to evict the family, which has been living in the Juhu residence for nearly two decades. They also sought relief on humanitarian grounds, requesting that the eviction be stayed.
The ED’s probe into the alleged Bitcoin fraud began in 2018. Though Kundra has been summoned multiple times for questioning, neither he nor Shetty is listed as an accused in the case. In April 2024, the couple received a notice regarding the provisional attachment of their assets, including their Juhu residence, purchased by Kundra’s father in 2009.
Despite their response to the notice, the adjudicating authority confirmed the attachment on September 18, 2024, stating that it would remain in place until the trial concludes. The couple’s petitions maintain that no eviction order should be issued prior to a conviction and that their residence has no links to the alleged crime. The petitions also argue that Kundra has no involvement in the Bitcoin fraud.
(With inputs from agency)
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