Veteran actor Dharmendra, along with two others, has been summoned by a Delhi court in connection with a cheating case involving Garam Dharam Dhaba. The complaint, filed by a Delhi businessman, accuses the individuals of deceiving him into investing in the restaurant's franchise.
The magistrate has instructed all three individuals, including Dharmendra, to appear before the court for proceedings concerning the financial misconduct allegations related to Garam Dharam Dhaba.
"The evidence on record prima facie indicates that the accused persons induced the complainant in furtherance of their common intent and the ingredients of the offense of cheating are duly disclosed," the judge stated in the summoning order passed on December 5.
"Accordingly, let the accused persons at serial number 1 (Dharam Singh Deol), 2, and 3 be summoned for the commission of offenses under section 420, 120B read with section 34 IPC. Let the accused persons at serial no. 2 and 3 be also summoned for the offense of criminal intimidation under section 506 of IPC," the court ordered.
The case has been scheduled for further hearing on February 20, 2025.
According to reports, the court emphasized that during the summoning stage, it needs to examined whether a prima facie case exists, and a detailed analysis of the merits and demerits is not required.
The court observed that the documents related to Garam Dharam Dhaba, including a letter of intent with the restaurant's logo, suggest that the transaction was directly associated with the dhaba and pursued by the co-accused on behalf of Dharam Singh Deol.
On October 9, 2020, the court rejected a request to register an FIR but acknowledged the complaint. It instructed the complainant to present supporting evidence to move forward with the case.
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Advocate DD Pandey represented Sushil Kumar, the complainant, who claimed that in April 2018, a co-accused approached him on behalf of Dharmendra with a proposal to open a Garam Dharam Dhaba franchise on NH-24/NH-9 in Uttar Pradesh.
The complainant asserts that he was misled into investing in the Garam Dharam Dhaba franchise by being told that the Delhi and Haryana branches were earning a monthly turnover of Rs 70 to 80 lakh, a claim that he later found to be false.
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