The proceedings in a cheating case against former cricketer and Indian coach Gautam Gambhir will remain stayed, the Delhi High Court ordered on Monday.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri passed the interim order on a plea by Gambhir challenging the sessions court verdict.
The sessions court had set aside a judicial magistrate’s order that had discharged him in the case in which some home buyers were allegedly cheated.
Granting the relief to Gambhir, who is presently in Australia as the head coach of the Indian cricket team, the high court also sought a response from the Delhi Police on his plea and listed the matter for further hearing on January 31, 2025.
“In the meantime, the impugned order against the petitioner shall remain stayed,” the judge said, and added that it will pass a detailed order.
Gambhir was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and lawyer Paritosh Budhiraja.
In its October 29 order, the sessions court said the magisterial court’s decision reflected “inadequate expression of mind” in deciding the allegations against Gambhir.
“The allegations also merit further investigation into the role of Gautam Gambhir,” it had said.
The sessions court had remanded the case back to the magisterial court, directing it to pass a detailed fresh order.
The cheating case was filed against real estate firms Rudra Buildwell Realty Pvt Ltd, H R Infracity Pvt Ltd, U M Architectures and Contractors Ltd and Gambhir, who was a director and brand ambassador of the companies’ joint venture.
The accused had reportedly jointly promoted and advertised an upcoming housing project at Indirapuram in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad called ‘Serra Bella’ in 2011 which was renamed in 2013 as ‘Pavo Real’.
The prosecution alleged the complainants booked flats in the projects and paid various amounts, ranging between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 16 lakh after being lured by the advertisements and brochures.
However, even after the payments, no infrastructural or other significant development was made on the plot in question and the land remained bereft of any progress till 2016, the time of making of the complaint, it added.
The complainants, it alleged, subsequently learnt the proposed project was neither developed according to the site plan nor approved by the competent state government authorities.
The companies purportedly stopped entertaining queries and phone calls from the complainants, who further learnt the site of the housing project in question was embroiled in litigation and a stay order had been passed by the Allahabad High Court over the possession of the land in 2003.
The sessions court had noted that Gambhir was the only one who had a “direct interface with the investors” in his capacity as a brand ambassador and though he had been discharged, the magisterial court’s order made no reference to him paying Rs 6 crore to Rudra Buildwell Realty Pvt Ltd and receiving Rs 4.85 crore from the company.
