Surat, July 04: On a defence plea, a local court today deferred till July 9 the bail petition filed by Sunanda Shetty, mother of actress Shilpa Shetty, in a case of alleged extortion. Sunanda's lawyer Kalpesh Desai moved an application before the chief judicial magistrate R P Mehta praying for adjournment of the matter due to "unavoidable circumstances".
On January 30, the court had deferred Sunanda's bail plea on health ground. On two occasions earlier, the matter had been deferred on the same ground. 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 modelling in an ad film. In a related development, the court today granted bail to Sunanda's husband Surendra on certain conditions.
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. Bureau Report