Businessman Arun Gupta alleges losses worth several crores over false business assurances

Chandigarh: A district court in Chandigarh has directed Bollywood star Salman Khan, his sister Alvira Khan Agnihotri, and directors of Style and Content Jewellery Private Limited to appear before it in connection with a fraud case tied to a Being Human jewellery outlet in the city.

The court has fixed October 5 as the date on which all the accused must present themselves. The case stems from a complaint by Arun Gupta, a Chandigarh-based businessman, who alleges he was misled into launching a Being Human jewellery store in Manimajra based on assurances that later proved false, leaving him with losses running into several crores.

According to Gupta, he put in close to Rs 3 crore to establish the showroom after signing an agreement with Style and Content Jewellery Pvt Ltd, the firm authorised to sell Being Human-branded jewellery. Of this, he says nearly Rs 1 crore went specifically into setting up the store.

Gupta alleges that once the outlet started operating, the company withdrew the promised business support. He also claimed that jewellery supply to the store was halted from February 2020 onward, which threw inventory management into disarray and dealt a severe blow to the business.

His complaint names six people linked to the company, accusing them of misrepresenting the business venture and persuading him to invest on that basis.

The company has rejected these claims in the past, stating that Salman Khan was not personally involved in the 2018 agreement with the businessman. It clarified that the Salman Khan Foundation had only granted a licence for the Being Human brand to Style and Content Jewellery Pvt Ltd back in 2015, and that day-to-day operations, marketing and sales of the jewellery were entirely the company's responsibility.