Actor Shilpa Shetty withdraws plea in HC seeking nod to travel abroad; says plans didn't materialise

Actor Shilpa Shetty, embroiled in a Rs 60-crore cheating case with her businessman husband Raj Kundra, on Thursday told the Bombay High Court she was withdrawing her application seeking permission to travel abroad as the plans did not materialise.

Shetty's advocate Niranjan Mundargi submitted to a Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad that the actor was withdrawing her 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," he said.

A complaint was lodged against the couple by one Deepak Kothari alleging that from 2015 to 2023 they had induced him to invest Rs 60 crore in their company — Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd — but the amount was used for their own personal benefits.

The couple had last month filed a petition in the HC seeking suspension of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them at the behest of the city police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which is probing the case.

They sought permission to travel abroad for their professional commitments and one leisure trip between October and January 2026.

On Thursday, the court accepted the actor's withdrawal and posted the couple's plea seeking suspension of the LOC for hearing on November 17.

During the earlier hearings, the court had said that it cannot allow leisure trips when the duo is accused in a cheating and fraud case and had said it would consider their plea only if they are willing to deposit the Rs 60 crore.

Shetty had sought to travel to the US as she had been invited to attend an event there in October last week. The Bench had then asked her to submit the agreement or invitation received by her.

Mundargi had then said that no agreement could be signed until the actor obtained travel permission from the court.

He had earlier submitted that both Shetty and Kundra had cooperated with the probe in the case and had also appeared for questioning.