Maria Sharapova. (AFP Photo)

NEW DELHI: A luxury housing project — publicised in the name of tennis star Maria Sharapova and scheduled to be completed in 2016 by a Gurgaon-based developer — never took off, prompting one of the buyers to move court. The tennis star has been made a party to the complaint and a court has now ordered an FIR against her and the developers.

Gurgaon-based Bhawana Agarwal (44), through her lawyer Piyush Singh, filed a complaint in a Delhi court against Homestead Infrastructure Development, Homestead Infrastructure Maintenance, Homestead Arabic Homes, the company directors and Sharapova.

The order passed by Chief Metropolitan Magistarte Rajesh Malik records Agarwal's statement, saying she was “lured” by the developers who had advertised the residential project as “Ballet by Sharapova”. Apart from the name, the complainant says it was the proposal of a tennis academy in the project and commercial space for clothing and sportswear that caught her eye. The court said, “If the averments of the complainant are to be believed, it shows that nothing has happened on the said project and alleged persons have no licence or sanction for construction or development at the project, for which the complainant paid Rs 53.03 lakh.”

“Sharapova not only aggressively promoted the fraudulent activities of the accused, but also supported the project in the eyes of the general public and is, therefore, a part of this criminal conspiracy,” the complainant said.

“If the alleged persons have no licence or sanction to raise the residential flats in the name of ‘Ace by Sharapova’, Sector 73, Gurgaon, and accepted Rs 53 lakh to book a flat of unit area of 2,500 sqft, then they have undoubtedly committed criminal offence,” the court said, directing the SHO concerned to register an FIR under relevant sections and to investigate “all angles”.

Advocate Singh told TOI, “Once the court issues an order, the police has to register the FIR. Sharapova had come down to India two-three times in 2013 to meet prospective buyers. More than 1,500 people have invested in this project, but the project still has not seen the light of the day.”

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