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Mumbai: In a relief to cricketer Robin Uthappa, the sessions court has stayed proceedings against him till next hearing, after a cheque issued by a firm – in which he was a director – bounced. The court noted that he was not involved in day-to-day affairs of the company.
Uthappa had approached the Bombay High Court as well as the sessions court against the order passed by the magistrate court. In 2019, M/s Senior Marketing Pvt Ltd, a city-based marketing firm, had lodged the complaint against M/s Centaurus Lifestyle Brands Pvt Ltd wherein Uthappa was a director.
The complainant claimed that Centaurus Lifestyle had engaged it as sole distributor for its products in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai in 2016. The dispute began when Centaurus Lifestyle allegedly engaged two more distributors in October 2017, without the consent of the marketing firm. Subsequently, it was decided that the complainant would return all the stocks and the accused firm would return the money.
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In July 2018, Senior Marketing dispatched all the goods, after which Centaurus Lifestyle gave post-dated cheques of Rs 22.22 lakh. However, the bank returned them with the remark of 'insufficient funds', prompting the complainant to move the metropolitan magistrate court, Mazgaon.
It is claimed that directors of Centaurus Lifestyle didn't pay heed to the summons. Hence, a bailable warrant was issued initially followed by a non-bailable one. As no one appeared, the court then issued a proclamation against all the directors, including Uthappa.
The cricketer claimed that he came to know about the case only in April 2024 when he was called by the local police station. Uthappa claimed that he was a non-active director and had no role in any of the firm's transactions.
