Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, accused along with her husband Raj Kundra in a Rs 60-crore cheating case, on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that she was withdrawing her application seeking permission to travel abroad as the plans had fallen through.
Shetty’s lawyer, Niranjan Mundargi, told a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad that the actor no longer wished to press the plea.
“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,” Mundargi submitted.
The case stems from a complaint filed by businessman Deepak Kothari, who alleged that between 2015 and 2023, the couple induced him to invest Rs 60 crore in their company, Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd, but diverted the funds for personal use.
Last month, Shetty and Kundra had approached the High Court seeking suspension of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them by the city police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which is probing the case. They had also sought permission to travel abroad for professional work and a leisure trip between October 2025 and January 2026.
The court accepted Shetty’s withdrawal on Thursday and posted the couple’s plea for suspension of the LOC for hearing on November 17.
During previous hearings, the bench had made it clear that leisure travel could not be permitted while the couple faced cheating and fraud charges, noting that the request would only be considered if they were willing to deposit Rs 60 crore.
Shetty had earlier sought to visit the United States to attend an event in late October, but the bench had asked her to furnish a copy of the agreement or invitation. Mundargi had informed the court that no agreement could be signed without prior travel permission.
The lawyer had also maintained that both Shetty and Kundra had fully cooperated with the investigation and appeared for questioning as required.