In the direction of the fresh investigation, the Delhi Court set the discharge of the former Indian opening batter and the current head coach of the side, Gautam Gambhir, and others in a case where some of the flat buyers were cheated reportedly. Special Judge Vishal Gogne has alleged the veteran is a reflection of inadequate expression.
The case of cheating was filed against the real estate firm Rudra Build Well Realty Pvt. Ltd, H R Intracity Pvt Ltd, U M Architectures and Contractors Ltd, and Gautam Gambhir, who was the director and brand ambassador of the companies’ joint venture. Gogne asked for further investigation on the case in a letter written on October 29.
The judge, however, has only accused the Delhi-born, who had a direct relationship with the investors as the brand ambassador, and though he was discharged, the court’s reference of him paying INR 6 crore to Rudra Build well Realty Pvt. Ltd and receiving INR 4.85 crore from the company.
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“The chargesheet did not clarify whether the amounts paid back to him by Rudra had any nexus or were sourced from the funds received from the investors in the project in question.” Special Judge Vishal Gogne expressed.
“Since the core of the allegations pertains to the offense of cheating, it was required to be clarified by the chargesheet and also by the impugned order whether any component of the cheated amount came to the hand of Gautam Gambhir.” He added.
Gautam Gambhir under court order in cheating case
The court underlined that the bulk of the repayment to him happened after he resigned from the place of additional director on October 01, 2013. The former captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had financial transactions with the company beyond the role of brand ambassador between June 29, 2011, and October 01, 2013.
“Yet, the impugned order generalized the findings against Gambhir by combining the findings against him with observations of the court regarding other accused. The impugned order reflects the inadequate expression of mind in deciding the allegations against Gautam Gambhir. The allegations also merit further investigation into the role of Gambhir.” The order noted down.
The accused had reportedly promoted and advertised an upcoming housing project at Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which is called ‘Serra Bella’ in 2011, which was later transformed into the name ‘Pavo Real’ in 2013.
The prosecution alleged the complainants booked the flats in the projects and paid various amounts, ranging between INR 6 lakh and INR 16 lakh, after being lured by the brochures and advertisements.
Gautam Gambhir is currently working in the head coach position of the Indian team, where he started incredibly, getting the better of the home Sri Lanka side in a three-match T20I series with a 3-0 margin. However, they lost the ODI series by a 2-1 margin.
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The home season found them demolishing the Bangladesh side with a 5-0 mark in a couple of Test matches and later in the three T20Is. But, they faced a historic red-ball series defeat against New Zealand after 12 years, which now puts pressure on making their qualification for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25.
The companies stopped entertaining queries and phone calls from the complaints, who further came to know that the housing project was embroiled in litigation, and a stay order was later passed by the Allahabad High Court over the possession of the land in 2003.