The Delhi high court on Friday upheld Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav’s conviction in seven cheque bounce cases, saying it found no infirmity in a sessions court judgement, and refused to grant him probation. It said that he repeatedly failed to honour undertakings given before the court to repay the complainant.
The court said the sentence shall stand modified, subject to terms. “...[Yadav] is sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 3 months in each of the 7 complaint cases and pay a fine of ₹1.05 crore in each case,” said a bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. It suspended the operation of the sentence for two months to enable Yadav to avail of legal remedies.
The bench said the predecessor bench had initially been disinclined to hear the matter on merits, but suspended Yadav’s sentence after he expressed willingness to resolve the dispute. It added that over the following months, the court granted Yadav several opportunities, while he and his senior counsel repeatedly assured the court that payment would be made and sought adjournments to arrange funds.
The court said he failed to fulfil his commitments despite assurances, prompting the court to direct him to surrender. It added that some payments were made and Yadav’s sentence was suspended for a third time to facilitate a settlement, but no final resolution was reached even before judgment was reserved.
{{/usCountry}}The court said he failed to fulfil his commitments despite assurances, prompting the court to direct him to surrender. It added that some payments were made and Yadav’s sentence was suspended for a third time to facilitate a settlement, but no final resolution was reached even before judgment was reserved.
{{/usCountry}}The bench said Yadav stated in open court that he would rather “go to jail five more times” than repay the complainant. “This court is not inclined to grant him the relief of probation."
The court said the law is not a script that can be rewritten at the will of an actor.
Yadav moved the high court, challenging the trial court’s May 2024 order sentencing him to three months’ imprisonment. A private firm filed a criminal complaint against Yadav, saying he took a loan of ₹5 crore in 2010 for the production of the film Ata Pata Lapata, committing to repay ₹8 crore, but failed to honour the commitment.