The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the conviction of Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav in seven check bounce cases, saying it did not find any deficiency in the court’s ruling and refused to grant him probation. She said that he repeatedly failed to fulfill the undertakings he made before the court to pay the amount to the complainant.
The court said the sentence should be amended taking into account the conditions. “…[Yadav] He shall be sentenced to simple imprisonment for a period of 3 months in each of the seven cases of complaint and to pay a fine of $“Rs 1.05 crore in each case,” a bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said and suspended the implementation of the judgment for two months to enable Yadav to avail legal remedies.
The previous bench was initially unwilling to hear the matter on merits, but suspended Yadav’s punishment after he expressed his willingness to resolve the dispute, the bench said. She added that over the following months, the court gave Yadav several opportunities, while he and his senior counsel repeatedly assured the court that the payment would be made and requested a postponement to arrange the funds.
The court said that he failed to fulfill his obligations despite the assurances, prompting the court to direct him to surrender himself. Some payments were made and Yadav’s sentence was suspended for the third time to facilitate settlement, but no final solution was reached even before the judgment was reserved, it added.
The bench said that Yadav had stated in open court that he would rather “go to jail five more times” than repay the amount to the complainant. “This court is not inclined to grant him a reduction in probation.”
The court said that the law is not a text that can be rewritten at the will of the actor.
Yadav had moved the Supreme Court challenging the court’s May 2024 order sentencing him to three months’ imprisonment. A private company has filed a criminal complaint against Yadav, saying he took a loan worth $100 million $5 crore in 2010 for the production of the film Ata Patta Labata, with a commitment to repay $8 crores, but failed to fulfill the obligation.
