The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to reinstate a cheating case against Indian cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri stayed the order passed by the sessions court and said that a detailed judgment would be delivered in the matter.
Gambhir had approached the High Court against the sessions court verdict that set aside a trial court order discharging him from the cheating case.
A case was filed against three companies – Rudra Buildwell Realty, HR Infracity, and UM Architectures and Contractors, which had jointly promoted as well as advertised a housing project named Serra Bella in 2011.
Besides being an Additional Director at Rudra Buildwell Realty, Gambhir was also a brand ambassador for the project. When the homebuyers saw no progress in the project and learned that the land for it was entangled in litigation, they filed a cheating case against the accused.
In 2020, the trial court found a prima facie case only against three persons and two companies. It discharged the rest of the accused, including Gambhir.
Three revision petitions were filed in a sessions court challenging the trial court verdict.
The sessions court held on October 29 this year that the trial court’s decision to discharge Gambhir from the case reflected an “inadequate expression of mind.”
Setting aside the trial court verdict, the sessions court directed the trial court to pass a fresh order on the charges against Gambhir.
The sessions court further observed that since cheating was a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the matter may be required to be probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Therefore, it ordered the ED to examine the allegations from the perspective of money laundering and file a status report.
The Indian cricket team coach had challenged this sessions court order before the High Court.
Appearing for Gambhir, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that the former cricketer had not dealt with anyone as Rudra’s Additional Director. He further said that any further investigation in the case would lead to harassment of Gambhir.
Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi also appeared in the matter.