In February 2009, Raj Kundra stood at a press conference to announce his purchase of an 11.7 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals and described the deal as a Valentine’s Day gift for Shilpa Shetty. On July 20, 2026, the High Court of England and Wales permanently barred him from making any further legal claim on that franchise and ordered him to repay the money he accepted when he gave it up.
“One of the most expensive Valentine’s Day gifts ever given to each other.”
Raj Kundra, press conference on acquiring stake in Rajasthan Royals, February 2009
The franchise he was describing is now worth USD 1.65 billion.
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The footage has been circulating widely on social media in the days since the UK court ruling of July 20, 2026.
Kundra and Shetty bought their stake through an offshore company based in Mauritius, paying approximately USD 11.6 million for 11.7 per cent of the franchise. They were buying into the reigning IPL champions. Rajasthan Royals had won the inaugural 2008 season under Shane Warne, claiming the title as the tournament’s biggest underdogs. Manoj Badale, the franchise’s principal owner, welcomed the entry of new investors.
Shetty framed the same purchase in entirely different terms at the same press conference.
“Idea raj ka tha aur jab woh proposal lekar aaye invest karne ka. Maine socha ki yeh bohut accha khayal hai aur intelligent business strategy hai. Since it is something that is watched all over India and even internationally, it can’t be a losing proposition. Fear bilkul nahi hai because it’s a sound team. Recession ho kuch bhi ho, cricket is something will never go out of style.”
Shilpa Shetty, press conference on acquiring stake in Rajasthan Royals, February 2009
Translation: “The idea was Raj’s when he brought up the proposal to invest. I thought it was a good idea and an intelligent business strategy. Since it is something watched all over India and internationally, it can’t be a losing proposition. I don’t have any fear even if it is a recession, cricket will never go out of style.”
Four years after that press conference, Delhi Police arrested three Rajasthan Royals players Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan in May 2013 on spot-fixing charges during that IPL season. The investigation extended to the ownership. Delhi Police questioned Kundra, seized his passport, and the Delhi Police Commissioner publicly stated that Kundra had admitted to placing bets on his own team and others through bookies. The BCCI suspended him from all cricket activities pending enquiry. The franchise issued a statement noting that if Kundra were proven guilty, “he will be suspended and will also forfeit his shares.”
From Owner to Life Ban: What the Lodha Committee Found
The Supreme Court of India appointed a three-member committee under former Chief Justice RM Lodha on January 22, 2015 to investigate the scandal and determine punishments. The verdict was delivered on July 14, 2015.
The Lodha Committee found Raj Kundra guilty of betting. Three sanctions were imposed on him, all running concurrently from that date: ineligibility from participating in cricket for five years, a lifetime suspension from all cricket activity, and a lifetime suspension from any involvement in BCCI or cricket matches. Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings were both suspended from the IPL for two years. The committee found Kundra had been “constantly in touch with bookies” and “placing bets through a known punter” and did not accept his argument that as a British citizen he was unaware of Indian betting regulations.
Delhi Police subsequently issued a clean chit to Kundra in their separate criminal investigation, finding no grounds for prosecution. The Lodha Committee was a sports governance body operating under a different standard, and its sanctions remained in force regardless.
In August 2015, Kundra transferred his 11.7 per cent shareholding through a Share Transfer Agreement. In 2019, he signed a settlement with Emerging Media Ventures, the principal shareholder group, accepting USD 4.94 million and relinquishing all rights to the franchise shares. The agreement barred him from making further ownership claims and required all future disputes to fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the English courts.
That number requires context. When the Mittal family and Adar Poonawalla acquired Rajasthan Royals in May 2026 for USD 1.65 billion, Kundra’s original 11.7 per cent stake would have been worth approximately USD 193 million at that valuation. He settled for USD 4.94 million in 2019. By July 2026, he had been ordered to give even that back.
Insider Read:
The Raj Kundra case was never only about the act of placing bets. The central issue from a sports governance standpoint was the position he occupied.
A franchise co-owner in the IPL has access to information that no bookmaker or punter in the open market can obtain through money alone: internal discussions about pitch assessments before they become public, injury updates that never reach the media, selection debates inside the dressing room, a captain’s concerns about a bowler’s fitness that the outside world simply does not know. Bookmakers price their odds on what is publicly known. A franchise owner who bets armed with what only he knows is not participating in the same market as other punters. He is operating with a structural information advantage the entire betting market does not have. That is the conflict of interest at the heart of why sports governance treats this conduct as a fundamental breach rather than a routine violation.
This is why the Lodha Committee imposed a life ban rather than a fixed suspension. The punishment was calibrated to the position, not simply the act. The case became a landmark moment for cricket governance because it drew a line that Indian cricket had never drawn as formally before: that being involved in the business of a franchise and being involved in the outcome of its matches cannot coexist. The conflict is not about intent. It is structural.
Shilpa Shetty’s separate read on the asset proved entirely correct. Her 2009 statement that cricket would “never go out of style” regardless of a global recession was not celebrity optimism. It was a structural argument about cricket’s embedded position in Indian culture and economy. The franchise grew from an investment of roughly USD 11.6 million for 11.7 per cent to a sale price of USD 1.65 billion in 2026. The investment thesis was sound. The governance conduct that followed was not. The asset performed exactly as she said it would. They are not in it.
In November 2025, Kundra filed a petition before the National Company Law Tribunal through Kuki Investments Ltd, a Bahamas-based entity, claiming he held 456,500 shares in EM Sporting Holdings Ltd the Mauritius-based holding company of the franchise gained in 2009, and that the 2015 share transfer had been obtained through coercion. He alleged financial misconduct and hidden transactions by a key promoter of the franchise, and claimed the 2019 settlement amount had not been fully paid or honoured on time.
As the USD 1.65 billion Mittal-Poonawalla acquisition progressed through early 2026, Kundra wrote to the BCCI urging them not to approve the transaction. An earlier proposed sale to a US-based consortium led by Kal Somani had already collapsed due to funding issues. The Mittal deal went through in May 2026, with the Mittal family holding 75 per cent, Adar Poonawalla 18 per cent, and the remaining 7 per cent staying with existing investors including Badale.
On July 20, 2026, Justice Griffiths of the High Court of England and Wales found that Kundra had “no realistic prospect” of successfully defending Emerging Media Ventures’ claim and found “no evidential basis” for his allegations that either the 2015 or 2019 agreements had been obtained through fraud or unconscionable conduct. The court noted both agreements had been entered voluntarily while Kundra was represented by legal counsel. It permanently restrained him from pursuing any legal proceedings in India over his former shareholding and ordered him and Kuki Investments to repay the USD 4.94 million plus interest, ruling that EMV had validly terminated the settlement due to repeated breaches.
The franchise Raj Kundra once called a Valentine’s Day gift is now owned by one of the world’s wealthiest industrial families. The English court has closed the door on any further challenge to that. No public statement from Raj Kundra or Shilpa Shetty has been made in response to the July 20 ruling at time of publication.
Sources:
- Rajasthan Royals stake acquisition press conference, February 2009 DNA India
- Raj Kundra Valentine’s Day gift statement, Zoom interview context, August 2, 2021 Zee News
- Raj Kundra reaction to Lodha Committee life ban, July 14, 2015 Gulf News
- Raj Kundra NCLT petition and proposed Rajasthan Royals sale, March 26, 2026 HindFirst
- Mittal family and Adar Poonawalla acquire Rajasthan Royals for USD 1.65 billion, May 3, 2026 Business Standard
- England court orders Raj Kundra to repay USD 4.94 million, July 20, 2026 The Hawk/IANS
- Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty, YouTube, November 2024
- Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty, Instagram, July 2026
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