Sunny Leone being unnecessarily harassed in cheating case: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court on Thursday, March 9, said that it is inclined to quash criminal proceedings against actress Sunny Leone, her husband Daniel Weber, and one of her employees, in a cheating case registered against them. The court orally remarked that there seemed to be no criminal offence made out against Sunny and that she was being unnecessarily harassed. The case goes back to 2019, when R Shiyas, who conducts events in and around Kochi, filed a complaint alleging that Sunny Leone had taken Rs 29 lakh from him, promising to attend various inaugural functions in the state but failed to do so.

"What is the criminal offence in this? You are unnecessarily harassing the person (Sunny). I am inclined to quash this," the bench remarked, and eventually posted the case for March 31 after stating that the probe can continue.

On November 16, 2022, the court had stayed criminal proceedings against the three persons following a cheating case registered against them on a complaint by a Kerala-based event manager, who alleged that Sunny, despite being paid lakhs of rupees to appear and perform in events, did not show up.

Sunny and the others moved the High Court saying they were innocent and that even if the allegations were taken at face value, the offences alleged would not be attracted. Their plea said that the complainant has not faced any losses due to the petitioners but the petitioners' lives are being adversely affected by the case. The plea also pointed out that the complainant had also moved a civil suit with the same allegations, which was dismissed by a magistrate's court in July 2022 for want of evidence. Therefore, they moved the High Court seeking quashing of the proceedings against them, it said.