Finfluencer Shivangi Mehta receives bail

Ashesh and Shivangi Mehta of Bliss Consultants

Shivangi Mehta, the director of operations at Bliss Consultants, was granted bail last week by the Gujarat High Court. However, her husband, Ashesh Mehta, has not received any relief from courts in states other than Punjab. The couple has been in jail since December 2023.

According to sources, the Mehta couple faces over six cases filed by investors across Mumbai, Punjab, Gujarat and Bengaluru. Two of these cases are in Gujarat, including one at the Dhanera Police Station in Banaskantha district. The complainant in the Gujarat case alleged that the couple promised a 70 per cent profit on his investment of R1.03 crore but failed to return either the principal amount or the promised profit. The couple was arrested on March 13.

Shivangi's counsel had previously applied for bail in a lower court, but the application was rejected. The counsel then approached the Gujarat High Court, which granted her bail on August 2, on a personal bond of R10,000 with one surety of the same amount.

The first case against the Mehtas was registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Mumbai last year. After evading arrest for over 210 days, they were finally apprehended on December 29, 2023, by EOW officials in Gujarat. Following the filing of the charge sheet, Shivangi was granted bail by the Mumbai Sessions Court in April 2024 under various conditions. However, Ashesh's bail application was rejected.

In the same month, both Ashesh and Shivangi were granted bail by a Punjab court. Ashesh's father, Shailesh Mehta, was also implicated in a case filed by one of the Mehtas' investors, who claimed he was cheated out of R1.20 crore. The case was filed at the Sohana police station in SAS Nagar district, commonly known as Mohali.

Shailesh Mehta was arrested on December 2, 2023, by Sohana police and was released on bail after spending a couple of months in jail. The Sohana police were accused of failing to file the charge sheet on time, even after being granted additional time. This led to the court granting bail to the couple by default, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

Case history

The Mehtas, founders of Bliss Consultants, faced legal trouble after being linked to a drug case in Madhya Pradesh. In June 2023, Nisaar Zubair Khan, arrested with Rs 17 lakh worth of mephedrone, accused the couple of drug trafficking. The Khaniyadhana police from Madhya Pradesh detained them in Mumbai, but they were soon released on summons.

The Mehtas went into hiding, leading to multiple FIRs and property seizures under the MPID Act. Ashesh's father, Shailesh Mehta, was also arrested in Punjab but later released on bail. Although Madhya Pradesh cleared a couple of drug charges in December 2023, the EOW arrested them that same month, and they have been in jail since.

Dec 2023
Month the couple was arrested