Gautam Gambhir lands in trouble, Delhi court orders fresh probe in cheating case

Special Judge Vishal Gogne said that the allegations against Indian men's cricket coach Gautam Gambhir in a cheating case "merit further investigation".

In Short

• Delhi court has ordered fresh investigation against Gautam Gambhir
• Special Judge Vishal Gogne asked for the fresh probe
• Gambhir is currently the head coach of the Indian team

A Delhi court has reopened an investigation involving former cricketer and current Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir in a case of alleged cheating of flat buyers. Special Judge Vishal Gogne overturned a previous decision by a lower court to discharge Gambhir, describing the ruling as reflecting an "inadequate expression of mind" on the accusations against him.

"The allegations also merit further investigation into the role of Gautam Gambhir," Judge Gogne stated in an October 29 order.

The case, initially filed against real estate firms Rudra Buildwell Realty Pvt. Ltd, H R Infracity Pvt Ltd., U M Architectures and Contractors Ltd., and Gambhir (who served as both a director and brand ambassador for the companies' joint venture), centres around claims that investors were cheated.

Judge Gogne noted that Gambhir was the only accused with a "direct interface with the investors" as a brand ambassador. Despite his discharge, the lower court’s ruling did not address his financial involvement with the company, including a payment of Rs 6 crore to Rudra Buildwell Realty Pvt. Ltd and a receipt of Rs 4.85 crore in return.

"The charge-sheet did not clarify whether the amounts paid back to him by Rudra had any nexus or were sourced from the funds received from the investors in the project in question. Since the core of the allegations pertains to the offence of cheating, it was required to be clarified by the charge-sheet and also by the impugned order whether any component of the cheated amount(s) came to the hand of Gambhir," the judge said.

Furthermore, the court highlighted Gambhir’s financial transactions with the company and his tenure as an additional director from June 29, 2011, to October 1, 2013. "Thus, he was an office bearer when the project was advertised," the court noted, emphasizing that "bulk of the repayment to him" took place after his resignation in 2013.

"Yet, the impugned order generalised the findings against Gambhir by combining the findings against him with observations of the court regarding other accused (not named in the complaint). The impugned order reflects inadequate expression of mind in deciding the allegations against Gambhir. The allegations also merit further investigation into the role of Gambhir," said the order.

It subsequently remanded the case to the lower court, directing it to "pass a detailed fresh order on the charge specifying the allegations against each accused" based on the evidence presented in the charge-sheet.

The accused parties reportedly promoted and advertised a housing project in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, initially called "Serra Bella" in 2011 and renamed "Pavo Real" in 2013. According to the prosecution, buyers paid amounts ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 16 lakh based on these promotions, but no significant development took place on the property by the time the complaint was filed in 2016.

Complainants later discovered that the project had neither been developed according to the proposed plan nor received necessary state government approvals. The companies allegedly stopped responding to inquiries, and it was revealed that the property had been under litigation with a 2003 stay order issued by the Allahabad High Court on the land’s possession.