Mumbai: Bombay high court has directed the city police to quash the FIR registered against two directors of an interior designing firm accused of shortchanging the owners of a six-bedroom, sea-facing apartment in Worli by using substandard material for fittings, thus misappropriating Rs 20 crore. The HC order follows consent terms by both parties. HC, however, imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh each on the two accused.
The money will go to the Central Police Welfare Fund of Maharashtra Police. In March, Madhav and Ishita Agarwal lodged an FIR with Dadar police alleging that Krish and Priya Kothari of Beauvue Stiledivita Pvt Ltd signed a contract of Rs 20 crore to carry out interior design of their Worli flat. The Kotharis allegedly took the Agarwals to Amsterdam and Milan to select Italian marbles and furniture, but used local material.
Economic Offences Wing (EOW) took over the case and registered an FIR under IPC section 406 for criminal breach of trust. Meanwhile, the Kotharis filed a writ petition in HC seeking closure of the case, stating that they had settled their dispute amicably. "The petitioners have undertaken that, through the vendors, they will offer assistance and shall get replaced/rectified the goods as per the consent terms within a period of three months," the HC order stated.
Agarwals' counsel, Ashutosh Sharma, raised no objection to the quashing of the FIR, while Kotharis' lawyer, Prerak Choudhary, provided a written undertaking to follow the HC order..