Udupi, June 25: In a major development, prominent Congress leader and real estate businessman Amrith Shenoy was arrested by the local police on Thursday morning following a non-bailable arrest warrant issued by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The arrest comes in connection with a long-standing property non-registration dispute and subsequent check bounce issues.

Case Background: Amrith Shenoy, who was engaged in real estate development in Udupi town, had failed to transfer the ownership of a constructed flat to a buyer. A check issued by him during the transaction had also bounced. Following this financial deadlock, the aggrieved customer and decree-holder, Santosh Pai, had filed a formal complaint against Shenoy before the Udupi District Consumer Forum in the year 2023.

After evaluating the evidence, the Consumer Commission directed Shenoy to immediately register Flat No. 304 in the apartment building under the applicant’s name. Alternatively, he was ordered to refund the primary principal amount of Rs 27.20 Lakh along with an annual interest rate of 9% to the buyer.

However, Shenoy consistently failed to comply with the judicial directives issued by the forum. Taking a serious view of this intentional non-compliance, Santosh Pai filed an execution petition. During the latest round of hearings, the Commission found that willfully ignoring the court’s decree is a punishable offence under Section 72 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Consequently, on June 24, the Commission sentenced Amrith Shenoy to 3 years of simple imprisonment and imposed a cash penalty of Rs 1 Lakh. The order added that a failure to pay the fine would attract an additional 6 months of simple imprisonment.

Following the final conviction order, an arrest warrant was handed over to the police to produce the accused. Accordingly, on June 25, the Udupi police arrested Amrith Shenoy and produced him before the Commission. The bench remanded him to judicial custody, after which he was shifted to the Hiriadka District Prison, officials confirmed.

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