Rajasthan High Court: In a series of criminal miscellaneous petitions filed by the MD and COO of Hyundai Motor India Ltd along with the Brand Ambassadors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (‘BNSS’) against FIR registered by the complainant for offences under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the Penal Code 1860, (‘IPC’) alleging that his vehicle suffers from manufacturing and technical faults causing him immense hardship, the Single-Judge Bench of Sudesh Bansal, J., stayed the further investigation against them and also suggested mediation to resolve the dispute.
The complainant had purchased a Hyundai Alcazar car on 30-06-2022. After plying the vehicle for nearly three years and 67,000 Kms, the complainant lodged the complaint on 12-06-2025, alleging that the vehicle had manufacturing and technical faults and had gotten stuck several times, causing immense hardship. The complainant had demanded a replacement car or a refund of the vehicle’s cost, which the company had not responded to, leading to the criminal complaint.
The petitioners, the Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer and Brand Ambassadors Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, filed the present petitions, contending that their implication in the criminal complaint was arbitrary and malicious. A bare perusal of the criminal complaint, on its face value, did not disclose any cognizable offence against them. They submitted that they have no connection or nexus with the sale of the vehicle in question and do not deal with consumer complaints for defects in sold cars. The complainant’s grievance, if any, regarding the defects in the purchased car should have been resolved by availing the remedy under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. They submitted that implicating highly reputed public figures in a criminal complaint was a sheer misuse of the process of law.
In light of afore-stated reasons, the Court issued a notice to the complainant. The Court ordered a stay on further investigation in the FIR. The Court observed that the complainant’s grievance could be resolved through mediation. It directed that any authorized officer from Hyundai Motor India Ltd. or the dealership may mediate with the complainant to finally resolve the dispute.
[Unsoo Kim v. State of Rajasthan, S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous (Petition) No. 5668/2025, 10-09-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioners: Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate, with Aparjita Jaunwal, V.R. Bajwa Senior Advocate with Aditya Sharma, Madhav Mitra Senior Advocate with Jaya Mitra, Sanjay Kumar, Abhishek Kr. Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Vedanshi Jalan Savita Nathawat
For the Respondents: Vivek Choudhary, PP
