Supreme Court grants bail to Vikram Bhatt and wife in 30 crore fraud case | –

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted regular bail to Bollywood filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari in the Rs 30 crore fraud case. The couple was arrested at their residence in Mumbai on December 7, 2025 and brought to Udaipur in Rajasthan after a doctor from Udaipur filed a complaint against them, alleging that they had cheated director Kotla by saying they would make a film.

Observing that the case essentially arose out of commercial transactions between the parties, a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) set aside the January 31 order of the Rajasthan High Court, which had rejected the couple’s bail petitions.A bench comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi expressed hope that both parties would make genuine efforts for an amicable settlement and directed them to appear before the Supreme Court’s Arbitration Center to explore a settlement of the payment dispute.“Regular bail was granted on the expectation that the appellants would try and make efforts to settle the dispute amicably,” the apex court said.Last week, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Shwetambari Bhatt and ordered her immediate release as she furnishes bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Udaipur Chief Judicial Magistrate.A bench headed by CJI Kant granted the interim relief while issuing notices on a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s denial of bail.

Earlier, the Rajasthan High Court had denied bail to Vikram Bhatt, his wife and another accused, observing that release at that stage was inappropriate as the investigation was still ongoing.Indira Group and Indira IVF owner Dr Ajay Murdia registered an FIR against Vikram Bhatt and eight others at Udaipur’s Bhupalpura police station on November 17.The complainant alleged that the director and his associates collected funds on the pretext of making a biopic based on his wife.Dr Murdia said that he was first introduced to the project by Dinesh Kataria and later met Vikram Bhatt at Brindavan Studios in Mumbai. Rs. 7 crore with an investment of Rs. Allegedly, Bhatt promised him that he could make four films with a revenue of 100-200 crores.After this, multiple transfers were made into the accounts of various persons associated with Bhatt’s group, amounting to Rs.2,45,61,400. Additionally, Indira Entertainment will spend Rs. 42,70,82,232 paid — total construction cost Rs. 47 crores though.According to the complaint, only two films were completed and released. The third film ‘Vishwa Virat’ is only 25 percent complete and the fourth film ‘Mahara-Ran’ ​​has not yet started.Bhatt has been accused of misappropriating Rs 25 crore for the fourth film. Along with Vikram Bhatt, Shwetambari Bhatt, Krishna Bhatt, Dinesh Kataria, Mehboob Ansari, Mudit Buttan, Gangeshwar Lal Srivastava and Ashok Dubey have been named as accused in the FIR.