New Delhi: A Delhi court has summoned veteran Hindi film star Dharmendra and two others in an alleged cheating case related to the franchise of the Garam Dharam Dhaba and directed them to appear before it in February next year.
The order of the court came on a complaint filed by a Delhi businessman – , Sushil Kumar – alleging that he was fraudulently enticed into investing in the Garam Dharam Dhaba franchise, however, the accused persons stopped responding to him after he paid them money.
What did the complainant allege?
As per the complaint, the co-accused persons – Deepak Bhardwaj and Umang Tiwari – approached him on behalf of Dharam Singh Deol (Dharmendra) and offered him to open a franchise of Garam Dharma Dhaba on NH-24/NH-9 in Uttar Pradesh. The complainant alleged that the accused stopped responding to him after he gave a cheque for an amount of Rs 17.70 lakh in September, 2018.
DD Pandey, complainant’s lawyer, told news agency PTI that Judicial magistrate Yashdeep Chahal passed the order against the veteran actor on a complaint by his client alleging that he was lured into investing in the franchise.
There was a prima facie case of cheating and criminal conspiracy: Judge
The judge said that there was a prima facie case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against the veteran actor and other co-accused persons and directed them to appear before the court on February 20 next year. The judge, in an order passed on December 5, noted that the documents on record prima facie pertained to “Garam Dharam Dhaba” and the letter of intent also bore the logo of “Garam Dharam Dhaba”.
Transaction between parties pertained to Garam Dharam Dhaba, Court noted
The court noted that transaction between the parties pertained to Garam Dharam Dhaba and was being pursued by the co-accused persons on behalf of the actor and summoned Bhardwaj and Tiwari for allegedly criminally intimidating the complainant when he enquired about the project after he made the payment.
“It is fairly apparent that the transaction between the parties pertain to Garam Dharam Dhaba and was being pursued by accused number 2 (Bhardwaj) and 3 (Tiwari), on behalf of accused number 1 (Dharam Singh Deol). The evidence on record prima-facie indicates that the accused persons induced the complainant in furtherance of their common intent and the ingredients of the offence of cheating are duly disclosed,” the judge said.
