The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed actor Rajpal Yadav to deposit ₹5 crore with its Registry by Wednesday as a condition for avoiding surrender to serve his sentence in a cheque-bounce case involving film producer-financier Murli Projects Pvt Ltd, states The Hindustan Times.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana issued a conditional notice on Yadav’s plea challenging a Delhi High Court judgment that upheld his conviction and three-month imprisonment in seven cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
The matter will next be heard on 15 September.
The Delhi High Court had directed Yadav to surrender by September 10 after dismissing his criminal revisions against the conviction and sentence. He had earlier been lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the case.
The complaints were filed by Murli Projects against Yadav, his wife Radha Rajpal Yadav and their film production company over the dishonour of seven cheques issued in connection with financing for the film Ata Pata Lapata.
Yadav had borrowed ₹5 crore from Murli Projects in 2010 to finance his directorial debut, Ata Pata Lapata. The film failed at the box office, and the outstanding amount reportedly rose to nearly ₹9 crore with interest.
In 2018, a magistrate court convicted Yadav and his wife and sentenced them to six months in prison. The sessions court upheld the conviction in 2019, following which Yadav approached the Delhi High Court.
In June 2024, the High Court temporarily suspended his sentence and directed him to take “sincere and genuine measures” to repay the dues.
After failing to clear the amount, Yadav surrendered in February and was sent to Tihar Jail. He was granted interim bail on February 16 after depositing ₹1.5 crore, following confirmation from the complainant’s lawyer.
The relief was later extended, with the High Court stating that he would not be taken back into custody even after the earlier interim order was set aside.
Yadav subsequently sought a 30-day extension to arrange the remaining amount, but the High Court rejected the request and reserved its verdict.
During an earlier hearing, his counsel told the court that approximately ₹4.25 crore had already been paid to the complainant.
Several Bollywood personalities, including Sonu Sood, Ajay Devgn, Salman Khan and Gurmeet Choudhary, have extended support to the actor during the legal dispute.
