Bombay High Court Issues Notice On Raj Kundra's Plea Challenging Summons In ED's 'Bitcoins' Case

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (July 28) issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea filed by husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty and businessman Raj Kundra, who has challenged a special court's order taking cognisance of a supplementary chargesheet naming him in a Bitcoin-linked money laundering case. 

Single-judge Justice Ashwin Bhobe issued notice to the ED and adjourned the matter for hearing on August 6.

Kundra through advocate Prashant Patil has challenged a January 5, 2026 order passed by a special court designated to hear cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), taking cognisance of a supplementary chargesheet naming Kundra in the case lodged initially against some other persons, way back in 2018. By the very order, the special court has also issued summons against Kundra.

According to the initial FIR lodged in March 2018, directors of M/s Variable Tech Pvt Ltd - Amit Bharadwaj and others were booked for allegedly indulging in contracts with several investors for 'bitcoin cloud mining' and promising high returns of earning in bitcoin, however, the said amount, the ED alleged were never returned but were used somewhere else. 

As regards Kundra, the ED has alleged that he received 'proceeds of crime' in the form of 285 bitcoins from Bharadwaj, which valued at Rs 150.47 crores. The ED alleged that Kundra refused to disclose the wallet addresses and also failed to surrender the alleged bitcoins he received from the prime accused in the case. 

Therefore, in a supplementary chargesheet filed last year, the ED named Kundra as an accused in the said case. The Special PMLA Court on January 5, took cognisance of the said chargesheet/prosecution complaint and issued summons against Kundra. 

However, the businessman has contended that the special court while issuing summons ignored the provision of section 223(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which mandates hearing of the accused before taking cognisance of the prosecution complaint. The special court, Kundra has argued, failed to comply with the said provision of law.

The matter would now be heard on August 6. 

Case Title: Ripusudan @ Raj Kundra vs Enforcement Directorate