Delhi High Court grants relief to Gautam Gambhir in cheating case

The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed a sessions court decision to reinstate a cheating case against Indian cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir.

Gambhir moved the High Court challenging the sessions court's decision to set aside a trial court order discharging him from the cheating case.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri of the Delhi High Court today stayed the sessions court order against Gambhir and said that a detailed order would be passed in the matter.

"I will pass the order. In the meantime, the impugned order against the petitioner shall remain stayed. I will pass a detailed order," the judge said.

The case concerns three companies Rudra Buildwell Realty, HR Infracity and UM Architectures and Contractors, which had jointly promoted as well as advertised a housing project ‘Serra Bella’ in 2011.

Gambhir, besides being an additional director of Rudra, was also a brand ambassador for the project. When the homebuyers saw no progress in the project and later learnt that the land for it was entangled in litigation, they filed a cheating case against the accused

However, the trial court in 2020 found a prima facie case only against three persons and two companies. It discharged the rest of the accused, including Gambhir.

This trial court order was challenged before a sessions court by three revision petitions.

On October 29, the sessions court opined that the trial court's decision to discharge Gambhir from the case reflected an "inadequate expression of mind." It, therefore, set aside the trial court order and directed it to pass a fresh order on the charges against Gambhir.

The sessions court also observed that since cheating is a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the matter may be required to be probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It, therefore, ordered the ED to examine the allegations from the perspective of money laundering and file a status report.

Gambhir challenged this sessions court order before the High Court. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Gambhir today and argued that he 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.

“I have had an unblemished record. It is normal to be a brand ambassador. Icing on the cake is an ED order. This is complete harassment," Rohatgi said.

Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi also appeared in the matter.