Alleging that the movie and media reports are “part of a mala-fide, vicious and vexatious campaign to tarnish the reputation” of Choski, the lawyer issued a notice to director Karthik K. and producers Kalol Das, Parth Rawal and other individuals involved in the production.
Fugitive Mehul Choksi’s lawyer Ayush Jindal on November 19 sent a legal notice to Bollywood actor and producer Suniel Shetty and film director Anurag Kashyap over the making of their next film named “File No 323”.
The film is reportedly inspired by the lives of India’s alleged financial fugitives like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. Now, Choksi, who has been referenced in reports about File No 323, has issued a Cease and Desist notice through his lawyer to the producers and director of the film.
A copy of the legal notice, dated November 19, has been viewed by Moneycontrol
In the notice, the lawyer, addressing Choksi as the “Client” stated, “It is reiterated that my Client, has already been defamed by the
baseless allegations and stories that have been routed through the news media regarding his alleged involvement in a “financial scam” and “File No. 323” continues to allege misdeeds on the part of my Client, despite the fact that no court of law has reached a final adjudication upon his involvement in the matter.”
Alleging that the movie is as well as media reports are “part of a mala-fide, vicious and vexatious campaign to tarnish the reputation” of Choski, the lawyer also issued a notice to director Karthik K and producers Kalol Das, Parth Rawal, and other individuals involved in the production.
Further, the notice reads that the aforementioned people are involved with the production of File No. 323, “…are called upon to Cease and Desist from writing, filming, producing such misleading, unsubstantiated false, and unverified film(s) such as the Proposed Movie (File No 322) against my Client in any format, including motion picture, TV series, OTT series, documentary, etc. and to within 72 hours of the receipt of this Notice indicate cessation of all work in relation to the Proposed Movie.” The notice has also demanded a public apology from the producers.”
Meanwhile, reacting to the legal notice, Suniel Shetty, in a interview to Pinkvilla said it was ‘funny’ to receive a legal notice from Mehul for defaming him, when the film’s director and producers were ‘making something from whatever is available in the public domain’. He also added File No 323, which will reportedly feature Anurag as Vijay Mallya, is a ‘bold film’.
Choksi, who was the chairman and managing director as well as part of the promoter group of Gitanjali Gems, is the maternal uncle of Nirav Modi. Both of them are facing charges of defrauding state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) of more than Rs 14,000 crore.
Both Choksi and Modi fled India after the PNB scam came to light in early 2018. While Choksi is said to be in Antigua and Barbuda, Modi is lodged in a British jail and has challenged India’s extradition request
Recently, market regulator Sebi barred Choksi from the securities markets for 10 years and imposed a fine of Rs 5 crore on him for indulging in fraudulent trading in the shares of Gitanjali Gems Ltd.
He has been directed to pay the penalty within 45 days, as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) order.