The Rajasthan High Court recently stayed the investigation against Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in a cheating case registered against them for the sale of an allegedly defective Hyundai car..Justice Sudesh Bansal said that the probe against Unsoo Kim and Tarun Garg - Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai Motor India respectively - will also remain stayed. .The case originated from a complaint by a Bharatpur resident who purchased a Hyundai Alcazar car in June 2022 from an authorised dealership. After driving approximately 67,000 kilometres, the owner allegedly faced recurring technical and manufacturing issues with the car. Dissatisfied with the company’s response to requests for a replacement or refund, he lodged a criminal complaint. A magistrate court then ordered the registration of a first information report (FIR) alleging offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy. Khan, Padukone, Kim and Garg argued that their implication in the criminal complaint is absolutely arbitrary and malicious, as the complaint does not disclose any cognisable offence committed by them. It was stated that the petitioners have no connection or nexus with the sale of the vehicle in question and do not deal with consumer complaints for repairing or manufacturing defects in the sold car. .After considering the case, the High Court issued notices to the police and the complainant, and stayed the investigation in the FIR. The Court further said that the parties may explore mediation to solve the dispute and asked the officials of Hyundai to explore that possibility. .The arguments for the petitioners were led by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal. He was assisted by Sanjay Kumar, Senior Partner, and Abhishek Kumar Singh, Partner, with their team at Luthra and Luthra Law Offices.Senior Advocates VR Bajwa and Madhav Mitra with Advocates Aparajita Jamwal, Aditya Sharma, Jaya Mitra, Sanjay Kumar, Abhishek Kr Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Vedanshi Jalan and Savita Nathawat also appeared for the petitioners. Public Prosecutor Vivek Choudhary represented the State of Rajasthan. .[Read Order]
