Gold to remain in bank locker until 2 weeks after decision

A division bench of the Bombay High Court has stopped the physical handing over of 1kg gold to actor and businessman Sachin Joshi by Satyug Gold Pvt Ltd, of which actor Shilpa Shetty and her businessman husband Raj Kundra were once a part. The gold will remain in the bank locker opened by high court officials and Satyug will bear the charges for it.

In an order passed last week on an appeal by Satyug, a bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla directed the Arbitrator to decide the dispute by November 6, and stayed the handing over of gold to Joshi until two weeks after the decision.

Earlier, a single-judge bench of Justice Gautam Patel had directed that gold be handed over to Joshi. The court had also made a prima facie observation that there didn’t seem to be any condition on any document that gave Satyug a free hand to levy a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day in case Joshi failed to collect the gold from the firm by March 2019.

According to Joshi’s case before the HC, the investment scheme was proposed to him by Shetty and Kundra, on behalf of Satyug. He paid over Rs 18 lakh in March 2014 and was to get 1kg gold in March 2019. Ever since the “scheme” matured, he kept searching for Satyug’s office to claim the physical gold. However, after visiting at least three different locations, including one given on Satyug’s official website, he managed to find one office only in November 2019.

He alleges that the person who met his representatives in November 2019, refused to acknowledge any such scheme and his claim. Later, in March this year, he received a letter from Satyug claiming that the firm had been trying to contact him and since he had failed to collect the gold, he needed to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000 per day since March 2019, which amounted to over Rs 17 lakh in March 2020, following which Joshi approached the HC.

He said as per another letter received from Satyug in August, this amount had crossed Rs 25 lakh. Satyug cited this penalty and opposed the handing over of physical gold to Joshi. Last week, the division bench put strict time limits for both the sides for filing claims, counterclaims, affidavits and other relevant documents required to start the arbitration proceedings.