MUMBAI, Nov. 11 -- Actor Shilpa Shetty and her husband and businessman Raj Kundra have moved the Bombay High Court, seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against them by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police for allegedly cheating businessman Deepak Kothari of Rs.60.48 crore. The couple's plea was filed on October 8. The division bench of justices Shree Chandrashekhar and Gautam Ankhad has directed the couple to serve a copy of the petition to Kothari. The next hearing is scheduled on November 20. According to the FIR against Shetty and Kundra, the couple used their name and reputation to lure Kothari and a certain Rajesh Aarya into transferring Rs.60.48 crore to them in various tranches between 2015 to March 2016. The money was advanced as a loan for BEST Deal, the couple's online retail firm, and they agreed to pay 12% interest to Kothari for five years. On September 29, 2026, Kothari was "shocked" to have received an email from Shetty, informing him of her resignation from the company. Subsequently, he found that the company was facing liquidation and contacted Shetty to sort out the repayment. Since he did not receive any response despite repeated requests and follow-ups, he filed a complaint, based on which the FIR was registered. In their petition before the high court, filed through advocate Prashant Patil on October 8, the couple stated that the allegations against them were false and had been maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive to extort money. Their company, Best Deal, was stabilising and moving towards profitability until the union government demonetised high value currency notes in 2016 which severely impacted their business, they claimed. The investment of Rs.60.48 crore by Kothari in Best Deal was purely on share subscription (equity) basis, they said in the plea. "He falsely alleged that the amount was advanced as a loan and started issuing threats to the couple through various police and enforcement officers," the couple's petition in the high court said. It further flagged that the FIR had been registered after an inordinate delay of ten years "with the sole objective of harassing them and coercing them into paying back the investment amount by tarnishing their image and goodwill before the public and the media". Shetty and Kundra said the FIR against them lacked "foundational basis" and proceedings against them would amount to a "miscarriage of justice". They sought a direction from the high court to quash the FIR and direct the Mumbai police to not file any charge sheet in the case....