Online Betting App Case: No Prima Facie Case Made Out Against Actor Sahil Khan, Says Court

Mumbai: The sessions court has observed that prima facie no case is made out against the actor Sahil Khan who was arrested for his association with the online betting app Lion Book, allegedly linked to the Mahadev app. The actor was granted bail by the sessions court last week but the detailed order was made available only on Tuesday.

The agency had claimed that the Lion Book app is similar to the Mahadev Book app and a subsidiary app of Mahadev, which is promoted by Dubai-based hotelier and businessman Hitesh Khushalani in partnership with Khan.

The defence lawyer Rizwan Merchant claimed that Khan is not the owner or a partner of Lion Book. “Several Bollywood celebrities promoted the Lion Book website like the applicant but none other than the applicant came to be arrested in the subject crime," Merchant had argued.

The court after hearing both side said he would agree with the contention of Merchant that there is no material collected by the investigating agency against the applicant to make out a prima facie case of committing the offences alleged in the subject FIR/complaint.