Delhi High Court Stays Non-Bailable Warrants Against Venugopal Dhoot In Alleged Share Deal Fraud Case
Kirit Singhania
25 Jun 2026 8:21 PM IST
The Delhi High Court has stayed the execution of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued against Videocon Group founder Venugopal N. Dhoot in a cheating case over the alleged fraudulent sale of shares of Tirupati Ceramics Ltd.
The warrants had been issued by a Delhi trial court after it found that Dhoot had repeatedly failed to appear before it despite being permitted to join the proceedings through video conferencing.
The relief came after he undertook to appear before the trial court through video conferencing on June 27 and participate in the proceedings, including the framing of charges.
A vacation bench of Justice Vinod Kumar passed the order.
His counsel also undertook that Dhoot would continue appearing through videoconferencing until further orders of the trial court.
The High Court clarified that if Dhoot failed to honour the undertaking or continued to avoid appearing before the trial court, the trial court would be free to issue coercive process to secure his presence.
“In view of the undertaking of the learned counsel for the petitioner, the execution of Non-Bailable Warrants issued against the petitioner are hereby stayed. In case the petitioner does not fulfill his undertakings and continues to avoids appearance before the Trial Court, the Trial Court shall be within its right to issue coercive process to ensure his appearance before the Trial Court.”
The case arises out of an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (South) pursuant to a trial court's order of August 5, 2016. According to the prosecution, Dhoot entered into a subscription agreement with the complainant for the sale of 30 lakh shares of Tirupati Ceramics and induced payment of ₹90 lakh through two HDFC Bank pay orders dated July 18, 2013.
The prosecution alleged that the shares had already been transferred to another concern and that Dhoot was not authorised by the Board of Videocon Industries Ltd. to enter into the transaction.
A chargesheet for the offence under Section 420 IPC was filed in 2018. On January 7, 2025, the Chief Judicial Magistrate held that there was sufficient material to frame a charge of cheating against Dhoot and fixed the matter for formal framing of charge.
On May 30, 2026, the Chief Judicial Magistrate rejected Dhoot's exemption application, forfeited his bail and surety bonds and issued NBWs after finding that he had repeatedly avoided appearing before the court despite being permitted to join through video conferencing.
While fixing June 27, 2026 as the framing of charges, the trial court also observed that an advocate being an officer of the court was expected to assist the judicial process. The trial court summoned Dr. Varun B. Gavali of KEM Hospital, Mumbai to verify Dhoot's medical records and warned that no further dilatory tactics would be tolerated.
For Petitioner: Advocate Rajneesh Sharma
For State: Mukesh Kumar, APP