Surat, June 30: A local court today deferred till July four the bail plea of Sunanda Shetty, mother of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and prime accused in an alleged extortion case on health grounds. On defence plea that Sunanda was unwell and unable to attend the court as she was under treatment in a Mumbai Hospital, the Chief Judicial Magistrate R P Mehta adjourned the hearing till July four. This is for the third time her bail plea has been adjourned on health grounds. Umra police has registered a case against Sunanda, her husband Surendra for "hiring" underworld gangster to extort Rs 80 lakh from Surat-based Praful Saree owner Pankaj Agrawal. The amount was payable to Shilpa for performance in an ad-film.
In a related development, the fresh bail plea of Surendra will be heard by a sessions court tomorrow. Earlier, his bail petitions were rejected twice by a Surat court and once by Gujarat High Court. Surat police have recorded statements of witness, including Shilpa in this case. The actress told police on June 28 that she was not aware of the controversial deal with Agarwal as she had given a power of attorney to her mother to handle her modelling contracts.

Sunanda and Surendra obtained transit bail from a Mumbai court which asked them to seek regular bail in a Surat court as the case was registered in Gujarat. Accordingly, both filed regular bail petitions.

Bureau Report