Surat, July 24: On a defence plea, a local court today deferred till July 29 the bail petition of Sunanda Shetty, mother of actress Shilpa Shetty and prime accused in a case of alleged extortion. Sunanda's lawyer, appearing in civil dress, urged the Chief Judicial Magistrate R P Mehta for deferring the matter in view of lawyers going on a two-day strike. In keeping with a judicial directive, Sunanda Shetty was present in the court. Umra police in Surat had registered a case against Shilpa's parents Surendra and Sunanda and the Malaysia-based gangster Fazlu Rehman for allegedly threatening owner of Prafful Sarees Pankaj Agarwal to pay Rs 80 lakh payable to the actress for working in an ad film.
Police claim to have in their possession telephonic talks which allegedly reveal that Shilpa's parents had asked Agarwal to pay the money demanded by the gangster. However, Sunanda and Surendra have denied the talks.
This is for the sixth time that Sunanda's bail plea has been deferred.
Surendra has already secured bail on certain conditions.
Earlier, Surendra and Sunanda had secured transit bail from a Mumbai court which asked them to seek regular bail in a Surat court as the case was registered in Gujarat.
Buraeui Report