The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the Cyberabad police not to take any coercive action on actor Hrithik Roshan and three directors of the Bengaluru-based fitness startup Cult.fit for the next four weeks.
Justice G Sri Devi gave the direction after hearing the plea filed by the three directors and the actor, which sought quashing of the case.
Shashikanth, who had availed the Cult.fit service approached the KPHB Colony police station under Cyberabad Police Commissionerate and filed a complaint against Roshan and the company directors on charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust. The complainant alleged that he was not allotted a slot for the workout though he had paid a fee of Rs 17,490 in December last year.
The gym was offering weight loss packages for Rs 17,490 to Rs 36,400 for one year. Shashikanth availed the discount offered at the time of the centre's launch.
He claimed that since the company advertised guaranteed weight loss and daily work out sessions and with Hrithik Roshan acting as its brand ambassador, a large number of people registered themselves.
Senior lawyer T Niranjan Reddy representing Cult.fit told the court that the fitness centre had terminated the membership and refunded Shashikanth, the complainant. Hence, the question of him getting online access to the training sessions does not arise. The lawyer also pointed out that Hrithik Roshan was only a brand ambassador and had nothing to do with the day-to-day workings of the fitness centre. The lawyer called the registering of an FIR against the fitness centre as unfair and making Hrithik an accused in the case as absurd.
The company had alleged that it was actually complainant Shashikanth, who had behaved inappropriately and violently with its staff, forcing it to take action against him.
"The current police complaint appears to have been filed subsequently against us falsely, while also mischievously and wrongly dragging our celebrity brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan into it. We are cooperating with the authorities as per the due process and evaluating the remedial action," Cult.fit Healthcare said earlier in a statement.