Actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra, have taken legal action by filing a petition in the Bombay High Court against an eviction notice issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The notice mandates the couple to vacate their residence in Mumbai's Juhu area and a farmhouse in Pune within ten days, in connection with an ongoing money-laundering investigation tied to an alleged Bitcoin fraud.
The petitions were presented before a division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday. The court has issued a notice to the ED and scheduled the next hearing for Thursday.
The couple's lawyer, Prashant Patil, argued that the eviction notices, dated September 27, were received only on October 3, and described them as arbitrary and illegal. He emphasized that there is no immediate necessity for the couple to vacate their homes, citing that the premises have been their residence for nearly two decades, accommodating a family of six.
The petitions also request the High Court to stay the eviction notices on humanitarian grounds. According to the legal filings, while the ED has been investigating a complaint lodged in 2018 regarding a Bitcoin fraud involving Amit Bhardwaj and others, neither Shilpa Shetty nor Raj Kundra have been named as accused in the case.
The ED has summoned Kundra for questioning multiple times during the investigation, and he has complied with all summons. In April 2024, the couple received a notice following a provisional order from the ED that attached their assets, including their Juhu residence, which was purchased by Kundra's father in 2009.
Despite their response to the attachment notice, the adjudicating authority confirmed it on September 18, 2024, stipulating that the attachment remains until the trial concludes. The couple's petitions highlight that the eviction orders cannot be issued prior to a conviction and assert that their residential property is not linked to the alleged crimes.
