Actor Sahil Khan has approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him in connection with the online betting application Lion Book, which in turn is alleged to be linked to Mahadev betting application, contending that it has been filed with malafide intentions.
Khan approached the high court after his pre-arrest bail plea was rejected by the sessions court on December 13. While rejecting the plea, the sessions judge Abhay Joglekar had observed that prima facie there is evidence to show his link with Lion Book. The court has said that the probe is at an initial stage, hence his plea cannot be granted. A division bench headed by Justice Ajay Gadkari has kept the matter for hearing in February 2024.
'FIR illegal and filled with malafide intentions'
An FIR was registered by the Mumbai police under the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act in connection with alleged illegal online betting app Lion Book. Seeking quashing of the FIR, Khan has contended that he has never been involved with any betting app. The FIR is “wrong, false, bogus, illegal and filed with malafide intentions”, contends his plea.
His counsel Rajiv Chavan said that the contents of the FIR do not make out any case under Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act. Also, the probe is at the initial stage.
Chavan said that as per the agreement his role was only to promote the application on various platforms. He further said that the actor was not involved in any illegal activities.
Khan seeks stay on probe against him
Till hearing in the quashing petition, Khan has sought that the probe against him be stayed. It prays that the police be restrained from taking any coercive action against him.
The police claim that these apps operate through more than 2,000 fake SIM cards and over 17,000 bogus bank accounts. This shows that the volume of the fraud is huge, police claimed. Besides, it said online batting was promoted through more than 1,000 channels on Telegram.
