Delhi court declares Siddharth Khera absconder in ₹400-crore Seagull Maritime case

New Delhi, A Delhi court has declared Siddharth Khera an absconder in the alleged ₹400 crore Seagull Maritime Agencies Pvt Ltd fraud case and directed the police to book him.

Judicial Magistrate First Class Deepakshi Rana said Khera failed to appear before the court despite the lapse of 30 days of proceedings under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure being executed.

In an order dated September 30, the court said, "In these circumstances, accused Siddharth Khera is declared absconder in this case. SHO, PS concerned is directed to register the FIR against the accused."

The development comes a year after the Supreme Court permitted the investigating agency to explore diplomatic channels to seek Khera's deportation.

The top court, in an order dated September 18, 2025, said the investigating agency "may resort to diplomatic channels to seek deportation of the main accused Sidharth Khera."

The Supreme Court also permitted investigators to seek additional documents and cooperation from other accused in the case.

The Economic Offences Wing registered an FIR in January 2022 under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy.

According to the allegations, Khera and his father, Ajay Khera, diverted Seagull's business and payments to Azure International LLC and a related firm.

Ajay Khera, a former executive director of the Central Warehousing Corporation, was arrested on September 22, 2022, and chargesheeted in December that year. The Delhi High Court granted him bail in April 2023.

Siddharth Khera, who worked as a business development manager at Seagull's US branch until June 2021, is alleged to have been a director of Azure International LLC along with his wife, Shruti Arora.

The Delhi High Court, in 2023, noted that Siddharth Khera and his wife were living in the United States.

In February 2025, the high court rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of his mother, Charu Khera, and brother, Aadhar Khera.

The allegations in the case are yet to be tested at trial.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.