NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed actor Rajpal Yadav to deposit Rs 5 crore with its Registry by Wednesday as a condition for exempting him from surrendering to serve his sentence in a cheque-bounce case involving film producer-financier Murli Projects Pvt Ltd.A bench headed by the Chief Justice, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, passed the order after Yadav’s plea was orally mentioned before it, as cited by ANI.The court issued a conditional notice on Yadav’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s July 10 judgment upholding his conviction and three-month imprisonment in seven cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.The matter will next be heard on September 15.The Delhi high court had earlier directed Yadav to surrender and serve his sentence by September 10 after dismissing his criminal revision petitions challenging his conviction and sentence.The case stems from seven complaints 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.According to the case records, Murli Projects advanced Rs 5 crore in 2010 for completion of the film. As the film’s release was delayed, the parties subsequently entered into a series of agreements, with the repayment amount revised at different stages.Yadav’s petition states that the original transaction was an investment in the film rather than a loan, and that the cheques were issued as security. Under a third supplementary agreement signed in August 2012, eight post-dated cheques were issued, with the repayment obligation linked to the film’s release.The dispute escalated after Murli Projects approached the Delhi High Court in 2012 over the film and obtained an order restraining the petitioners from creating third-party interests in its rights. Subsequently, seven complaints under Section 138 of the NI Act were filed over the dishonour of seven cheques.
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The petitioners, however, rely on a subsequent consent agreement dated April 21, 2013, under which the parties agreed to a full and final settlement of Rs 10.40 crore, including Rs 40 lakh already paid through RTGS.Four fresh post-dated cheques were issued to secure the settlement. Yadav’s plea says the agreement required the earlier eight security cheques to be returned, but Murli Projects instead proceeded with the dishonoured-cheque cases.The trial court convicted Yadav and the other accused in April 2018 in all seven complaints. Yadav was initially sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and fined Rs 1.60 crore in each case.The sentence was later reduced. On May 22, 2019, he was sentenced to three months’ simple imprisonment and fined Rs 1.35 crore in each of the seven cases, with the sentences to run concurrently.
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