The Bombay High Court on Monday issued notice to two conmen, who duped Bollywood filmmaker Rakesh Roshan in 2011 by posing as CBI officers, on Roshan’s plea seeking return of his ₹20 lakh which was recovered by the central agency from the duo.
Justice PD Naik issued notice to the duo, Ashwini Kumar Sharma and Rajesh Ranjan, and also directed Roshan to serve them private notice.
The HC was hearing a plea filed by Roshan seeking return of his ₹20 lakh that was recovered by the central agency from two men who had defrauded him by posing as CBI officers in 2011.
Roshan's lawyer pointed out to the court that one of the accused had given no objection to Roshan's application in the lower court.
Rakesh Roshan defrauding case
Twelve years ago, two men had approached the actor claiming to be CBI officers and sought money to settle an alleged dispute arising from a complaint by one of Roshan’s line producers. To settle the dispute out of court, Roshan paid them ₹50 lakh. He subsequently realised that he was misled and falsely implicated. He then lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) which registered an FIR in August 2011.
The CBI took over the case and arrested two men. The agency learnt that the duo had duped several others, too. It recovered documents of 21 immovable properties and money to the tune of ₹2.94 crore, which allegedly included Roshan’s ₹50 lakh.
On Roshan’s plea, the special CBI court permitted him to withdraw ₹30 lakh on November 9, 2012. The court had also asked Roshan to furnish an indemnity bond for ₹50 lakh as security with the court till the end of the trial.
Rakesh Roshan filed another application in 2020
In 2020, Roshan filed another application seeking return of the remaining ₹20 lakh, that was lying with the special court, which rejected the application on Dec 14, 2021, observing that he was seeking a review of the 2012 order which allowed return of part amount. It also said that Roshan had not challenged that order and sought return of the entire amount.
The film maker has now approached the HC seeking quashing of the orders passed in 2012 and 2021. He contended that in 2012 the special court had not curtailed his right for claiming return of the remaining ₹20 lakh. Further he said that he had submitted an indemnity bond for the entire amount of ₹50 lakh till the end of trial.
