Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has refused to quash an FIR registered by the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) of Surat Police against businessman Vasant Gajera and his three brothers in an alleged cheating and forgery case involving about ₹1,928.4 crore linked to textile market projects in Surat.

Justice M. R. Mengdey observed that the investigation is still at an initial stage and noted that a strong prima facie case of criminality is made out, particularly in relation to the alleged forgery of signatures to alter the shareholding pattern.

The case originates from a complaint filed by Pravin Agrawal, a partner in Shanti Residency Pvt Ltd, who alleged that the Gajera brothers and their associates conspired to siphon off ₹1,928.4 crore from the company and later removed him and his family members from the partnership using forged documents, including his digital signature.

The complaint states that in December 2009, Agrawal was inducted as a partner and allotted 75,000 shares, while his wife Shital Agrawal and father Devkinandan Agrawal received 70,000 shares each out of a total of five lakh shares, giving the family a 43% stake in the firm.

The court also clarified that it had not relied on any past antecedents of the petitioners while rejecting their request to quash the FIR. DeshGujarat