Bizman accuses Shilpa Shetty of forging sign on affidavit, seeks inquiry

Shetty was trying to “twist the suit according to their personal convenience as they are celebrities and consider themselves above the law”, the businessman alleged

MUMBAI: Businessman Deepak Kothari, who was allegedly duped of ₹60.48 crore by actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband and businessman Raj Kundra, has filed an interim application in the Bombay High Court, claiming Shetty’s signature on an affidavit submitted to the court in October was not genuine. The notary register, Kothari claimed, was signed by some third party.

Shilpa Shetty

“The proxy signature destroys the foundational principle of evidence placed before the court. A deponent not signing the notary register is a serious lapse that can render a document invalid and expose the notary to misconduct proceedings, as it violates the duty to verify the deponent’s identity and the requirement to maintain proper records,” Kothari said in the interim application.

Shetty and Kundra were booked by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police in August this year for allegedly cheating Kothari of ₹60.48 crore. The 60-year-old director of Lotus Capital Financial Services alleged that he had lost the money in a loan-cum-investment deal with the couple and their company, Best Deal TV Private Limited.

In the interim application, Kothari alleged that the couple was trying to “twist the suit according to their personal convenience as they are celebrities and consider themselves above the law”. He urged the court to take their “misconduct” seriously and send a message to “such celebrities that the law is supreme and it cannot be trifled with”.

The application, filed through advocate Yusuf Iqbal, claimed Shetty had fabricated the public record.

“Instead of appearing personally, Shetty allegedly sent a proxy, who forged her signature on the notarial register,” Kothari said. Aside from being a technical irregularity, her conduct demonstrated malice and the misconstrued belief that celebrity status can place an individual above the law.

Kothari urged the court to direct an enquiry against the couple for forging their signatures on the document.

“Allowing the affidavit based on a forged signature entry in the notarial register to remain on record will pollute the stream of justice, set a catastrophic precedent, and erode public faith in the solemnity of judicial oaths and procedures,” Kothari said.

On Tuesday, the division bench of justices AS Gadkari and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale directed Kothari’s counsel to serve a copy of the application to Shetty and Kundra and posted the matter for next hearing after two weeks.