The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered that no coercive action can be taken against actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty until September 10, in a financial fraud case filed by his former secretary Suman Roychowdhury and Roychowdhury’s wife.

Justice Jay Sengupta also observed that the investigation cannot be stayed as it is at the initial stage, and called for the case diary. The next date of hearing is September 3.

Mithun Chakraborty and his lawyer have been accused of fraud and breach of financial promise worth around Rs 35 lakh by the couple, who filed a complaint against them at Chitpur police station in North Kolkata. The actor had recently approached the Calcutta High Court demanding the dismissal of the case.

Suman Roychowdhury alleged that Chakraborty and his lawyer Biman Sarkar gave him the task of interior decoration of a hotel. Although he received payment for the first phase of work, Suman alleges that he was pressured to do additional work later. To complete the work, he allegedly had to mortgage his wife’s jewellery to raise the necessary money.

According to the police complaint made in January, the couple alleged that they had repeatedly tried to contact the actor and his lawyer for the remaining settlement but that they were being avoided. Biman Sarkar then allegedly blocked their phone numbers, “stating that they had not submitted any documents” regarding the extra work, allegedly worth around Rs 35 lakh.

When Suman’s wife later went to ask for the money, she was allegedly humiliated, after which they approached the police.