Mehul Kumar's office sealed?

Filmmaker Mehul Kumar, who has hits like Krantiveer, Tiranga and Mrityudata, to his credit, was recently accused of numerous debt-related issues. If a recent report is to be believed, his Juhu office had been sealed and there were talks of his Raj Classic flat being put up for auction, in case Mehul fails to make the payment (which amounts to a total of approx 15 crores) before the deadline.
Refuting all these claims, Mehul, who spoke to TOI says, “All this is just imagined reporting. There is no truth in what all is being reported. The matter that is being dragged here is a four-year-old matter and it is sub judice. So, I would not like to comment on it.”
Apparently, Mehul has been in debt for a very long time, and a number of debt-related legal cases were filed against him in various parts of India. Six months ago, a leading financer in Bihar, Shyam Bahadur, too filed a case against Mehul in Munger Court. “He (Kumar) took Rs 15 lakhs from me. When he did not pay up, I went and met him. I didn’t like his behaviour. With all the ghapla he did, he made a multiplex in Jamnagar. This is just not done,” said a furious Shyam Bahadur. “I was helpless. That’s why I took the help of the law.”
The worst affected is PEN (Popular Entertainment Network), from whom Mehul Kumar borrowed Rs 8 crores. Jayantilal Gada, of PEN said, “Mehul Kumar’s films say that government chor hai, police chor hai, lekin yeh aadmi khud kya hai? I have been fighting cases in court against him for a very long time but I still haven’t got justice. He started paying a little money in the form of interest to me some time ago, and then stopped.”
Apparently, Mehul Kumar also took money from Tips (Kumar Taurani) and a financer in Mumbai, Narendra Hirawat. While Hirawat remained unavailable for comment, Taurani said, “Mehul Kumar took approximately Rs 50 lakhs from us. He returned about 5-10 lakhs. He still has to pay me Rs 40 lakhs at least. However, I haven’t filed a case against him.”
Trashing all these reports as untrue, Mehul says, “This is being done to malign my image, as my movie, Krantiveer – The Revolution, has just released. I accept that I borrowed some money before starting the work on the sequel, but there were some issues with the interest rate and then the matter went into court. Since it is a disputed matter, the court will have the final say, and I have full faith in our law system.”
According to the report, Samata Bank, from where he supposedly borrowed approximately Rs 50 lakhs and failed to return it, had sealed his Juhu office. But Mehul says that even this piece of information is baseless. “My office is open and work is going on as usual. If you want, you can come to my office and see for yourself,” says Mehul.
(With inputs from Suruchi Sharma)
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