Actor Shilpa Shetty on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that she was withdrawing her application seeking permission to travel abroad, citing that her plans had not materialised. Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, are accused in a ₹60-crore cheating case lodged by a private complainant.
A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing the plea when the actor’s counsel Niranjan Mundargi submitted that Shetty was no longer pressing the application.
“As and when she and her husband desire to travel in future, they will file a fresh application seeking permission from the court. She (Shetty) is not pressing the present application,” Mundargi told the bench.
The cheating case was registered on a complaint by Deepak Kothari, who alleged that between 2015 and 2023, Shetty and Kundra induced him to invest ₹60 crore in their company, Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, but misused the funds for personal benefit.
In response, the couple had filed a petition before the High Court seeking suspension of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, which is investigating the case. They also sought permission to travel abroad for professional commitments and one leisure trip between October 2025 and January 2026.
Earlier, the bench had observed that it could not permit leisure travel when the couple is facing charges of cheating and fraud. It had also said it would consider granting permission only if they were willing to deposit ₹60 crore with the court.
Shetty had sought to travel to the United States to attend an event scheduled for late October. The bench asked her to produce the agreement or invitation letter, but her counsel informed the court that no agreement could be signed without prior travel permission.
Mundargi also submitted that both Shetty and Kundra had cooperated with the investigation and appeared before the EOW for questioning.
With Shetty withdrawing her current application, the court recorded the same and posted the couple’s plea for suspension of the LOC for hearing on November 17.
