SC grants interim relief from arrest to actors Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath in marketing scam case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim protection from arrest to actors Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath in a case alleging cheating and criminal breach of trust by a cooperative society, ordering that the relief will continue until the investigation is completed.

The matter was heard by a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan. During the hearing, Talpade's counsel told the court that the actor had merely been invited as a guest celebrity for the company’s annual event and had no role in its operations or finances. "I am not supposed to know. I never earned any money,” the lawyer said, as reported by PTI.

Appearing for Alok Nath, his counsel argued that the actor had not attended any event linked to the society and that his photograph had allegedly been used for nearly a decade without his involvement.

The bench raised a broader question on celebrity endorsements, asking, “If a top actor or a cricketer is giving his advertisement or appearing as a brand ambassador for corporate company which goes into liquidation or there are criminal cases against the company will it also go against the cricketer or actor?”

While disposing of Talpade's writ petition, the court said, “We dispose of this writ petition (filed by Talpade) by continuing



the interim order of protection from arrest granted by us until the investigation into the offences against the petitioner is complete.”

The Supreme Court was hearing pleas filed by both Talpade and Nath seeking the clubbing of multiple FIRs registered across different states in connection with the case.

In total, 13 people - including the two actors - were booked on a complaint filed by 37-year-old Sonipat resident Vipul Antil. Antil alleged that Talpade and Nath had “promoted the Human Welfare Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, as brand ambassadors,” which encouraged people to invest.

Police officials said the actors were named in the complaint because of their alleged association with the society. “It has been alleged that they were its brand ambassadors and victims get lured to invest because of such personalities. They were named in the complaint. An FIR has been registered. Now, it will be investigated what was their role,” the police said.

The FIR was registered on January 22 under Sections 316 (2), 318 (2) and 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, covering offences such as criminal breach of trust and cheating. Police have alleged that the society committed a “serious crime of cheating the public through financial schemes.”