Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir will be confronted by a fresh legal predicament as he prepares to be in Mumbai with his team for the third Test against New Zealand, which starts on Friday. The Delhi court has put aside an earlier order that discharged Gambhir and some others in a case relating to allegedly cheating flat buyers.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne termed the earlier magisterial court’s order as showing “inadequate expression of mind” on such serious accusations against Gambhir. With an order dated 29 October, the judge said there was a need for further investigation into Gambhir’s involvement.
The case involves complaints against real estate firms Rudra Buildwell Realty Pvt. Ltd, H R Infracity Pvt Ltd., U M Architectures and Contractors Ltd and Gambhir, director and brand ambassador of their joint venture. “As Gambhir deals directly with the investors, he needs to be more answerable,” Judge Gogne explained.
The judge pointed out that while Gambhir has been discharged, the earlier order failed to decide on his major bank transactions, including a payment of Rs 6 crore to the account of Rudra Buildwell Realty Pvt. Ltd and a corresponding receipt of Rs 4.85 crore from that company. There was also the question of such amounts coinciding with funds received from investors in the troubled project.
The court observed that Gambhir entered into financial dealings with the company beyond his scope as a brand ambassador when he was an additional director from June 2011 to October 2013, during which period the project was marketed. The judge noted, “The Majority of the refunds were made after Gambhir had ceased to be an additional director.”
The court’s order also faulted the earlier order for making general findings against Gambhir by clubbing them with observations about other accused persons not arraigned under the complaint. The judge pressed the need to scrutinise the allegations attributed to Gambhir in detail.
As the case goes back to the magisterial court, the judge has ordered a proper reappraisal of the allegations made against each of the accused persons and the evidence that supports them.
The complaints relate to a housing project—jointly promoted and named “Serra Bella,” later renamed “Pavo Real,” situated in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. The complainants said they booked flats and paid between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 16 lakh, taken in by promotional material. However, no significant construction took place on the site, following which complaints began flooding in by 2016, when nothing much had happened on the project site.
Matters were further complicated when it was learnt that the project site was a disputed battleground. The Allahabad High Court passed a stay order in 2003 on who possesses the land.
