Spread the news
New Delhi, July 10
The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld actor Rajpal Yadav’s conviction in multiple cheque bounce cases and sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment. The court also directed him to pay more than Rs 1 crore to the complainant in each of the seven cases, while allowing adjustment of nearly Rs 2 crore already paid. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma granted Yadav two months to approach the appellate court against the judgment. The detailed order is awaited.
The case came before the High Court on revision petitions filed by Yadav and his wife, challenging a 2019 sessions court order upholding their conviction by a magistrate’s court in April 2018. The magistrate had originally sentenced the actor to six months’ imprisonment.
In June 2024, the High Court temporarily suspended Yadav’s conviction after directing him to make sincere efforts to reach an amicable settlement with the complainant. During the proceedings, his counsel argued that the dispute arose from a genuine financial transaction to fund the production of a film that failed at the box office, resulting in significant losses.
However, the court later observed that Yadav had repeatedly failed to honour his undertakings to repay the amount and directed him to surrender in February this year. His sentence was subsequently suspended after he deposited Rs 1.5 crore into the complainant’s bank account, following which he was released from jail. With the latest order, the High Court has upheld the conviction while reducing the sentence from six months to three months. Yadav has been given two months to challenge the verdict before the appellate court.
