Top News

Famous Bollywood comedian Rajpal Yadav and his wife Radha Rajpal Yadav have received immediate relief from the country's top court in seven criminal cases to check bounce. Hearing the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the Delhi High Court upholding the three-month jail sentence and order to surrender, the Supreme Court has granted conditional exemption to the actor from surrender. However, the apex court has clearly directed that this interim protection will be effective only if the petitioners deposit a huge sum of Rs 5 crore in the Supreme Court registry within the stipulated time. The court has issued a conditional notice in the case and fixed the next hearing on September 15. What is the whole controversy to the film 'Aata Pata Lapata' of 2010? This legal dispute started about 16 years ago in the year 2010, when Rajpal Yadav had taken financial assistance of about Rs 5 crore from a company named M/s Murli Projects Pvt Ltd to complete the production and post-production work of his first Bollywood film 'Aata Pata Lapata' as a director. However, the film failed miserably at the box office, leaving Rajpal Yadav and his production company in financial trouble. The checks issued by the actor and his wife to repay the dues bounced in the bank. After this, the financier company filed seven separate criminal complaints against Rajpal Yadav, his wife and the production house for check dishonor under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act. Legal journey from lower court to Delhi High Court: This case remained under consideration in Delhi courts for years. In April 2018, the magistrate court had convicted Rajpal Yadav on all seven counts and sentenced him to six months' simple imprisonment and heavy fine in each case. Later in 2019, the Sessions Court upheld the conviction, but reduced the sentence to three months each. The Delhi High Court, in its order dated July 10, had rejected his criminal revision petitions while confirming the decision of the Magistrate and the Sessions Court. The High Court had ordered three months' imprisonment to run concurrently in all seven cases and directed compensation of Rs 1.05 crore in each case. Along with this, the court had held that the actor cannot be given the benefit of probation due to non-payment even after giving repeated assurances and undertakings. However, the High Court had given him two months to appeal in the Supreme Court, which was about to expire. Will the actor be able to avoid going to jail by paying Rs 5 crore? Now the biggest question is whether by depositing Rs 5 crore, Rajpal Yadav will be saved from going to jail forever or will he have to fight a legal battle further? According to legal experts, this order of the Supreme Court is a conditional interim protection. What this means is: Immediate relief from surrender: If Rajpal Yadav deposits Rs 5 crore in the registry within the stipulated time, he will not need to go to jail or surrender before the police till the hearing on September 15. Direct jail on default: If they fail to deposit this amount within the stipulated time, the interim protection granted by the Supreme Court will automatically lapse and they will have to surrender to serve their three-month jail sentence as directed by the Delhi High Court. Final decision of the case pending: Deposit of Rs 5 crore is only a pre-condition for considering the appeal, it is not the final disposal of the case. A detailed hearing of the case will be held on September 15, where the court will decide whether his sentence can be completely waived off based on the previous agreements reached between the two parties, the adjustment of about Rs 2.25 crore already deposited and legal precedents.