‘Your place is in jail’: Supreme Court raps actor Rajpal Yadav over unpaid dues

The Supreme Court on Monday came down sharply on actor Rajpal Yadav after he failed to comply with its direction to deposit money towards dues owed to a private firm in a long-running series of cheque-bounce cases.

During the hearing, Justice Joymalya Bagchi expressed strong displeasure at the actor’s failure to honour the undertaking given to the court. Responding to a submission from Yadav’s counsel that the complainant was not poor, Justice Bagchi said the firm may be wealthier than the actor but had been left “poor to the extent you have swindled them”.

“This arrogance needs to be put in its right place. You should know when to open your mouth. Your place is in jail,” Justice Bagchi said.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, directed that the payment be made by Tuesday and listed the matter for Wednesday as the first case.

Supreme Court questions Rs 50 lakh demand draft

The court had earlier given Yadav two weeks to come up with a concrete proposal for clearing the outstanding amount and directed him to deposit Rs 2 crore with the Supreme Court registry.

However, when the matter came up on Monday, the court noted that the deadline had expired and the directed payment had not been made.

Yadav’s counsel produced a demand draft for Rs 50 lakh, saying it was being processed by the bank. The bench questioned whether the draft was genuine.

“Is this genuine or not? We don't know,” the court said.

The complainant’s lawyer, senior advocate Ajit Sinha, accused Yadav of repeatedly disregarding court directions. He said the actor had shown no respect for the authority of the court.

The bench observed that it could dismiss Yadav’s appeal but was hesitant to do so because such an order could affect the complainant’s ability to recover the money.

What is the Rajpal Yadav cheque-bounce case?

The dispute relates to financial assistance of Rs 5 crore that the complainant, M/s Murali Projects Pvt Ltd, says was provided to Yadav for a film in 2010.

According to the firm, Yadav subsequently issued seven cheques of Rs 1.05 crore each towards settlement of the dues, but the cheques were dishonoured.

The complainant further claimed that an agreement signed in 2012 required Yadav, his wife Radha Rajpal Yadav and their company to repay around Rs 11 crore, including interest.

The dispute has since resulted in multiple cheque-bounce proceedings and convictions.

Delhi High Court had upheld conviction

On July 10, the Delhi High Court upheld Yadav’s conviction in the cases and sentenced him to three months in prison.

The High Court also refused to condone a delay of 1,894 days, or more than five years, in filing petitions challenging the conviction. It directed Yadav to pay more than Rs 1 crore to the complainant in each of the seven cases.

The court, however, ordered that around Rs 2 crore already paid by Yadav be adjusted against the amount due. It also kept his sentence in abeyance for two months to allow him to approach the appellate court.

Yadav’s wife was separately ordered to pay a fine of around Rs 5.5 lakh in each case. In case of default, she would have to undergo three months of simple imprisonment.

The High Court’s ruling followed revision petitions filed by Yadav and his wife against a 2019 sessions court order that had upheld their conviction by a magistrate in April 2018.

The magistrate had initially sentenced Yadav to six months in prison, a term later reduced to three months.

Supreme Court had earlier granted Yadav more time

The Supreme Court had been dealing with Yadav’s plea against the proceedings and had previously imposed conditions on his exemption from surrender.

On September 8, the court issued notice on his plea and granted exemption from surrender subject to a Rs 5 crore deposit with the Supreme Court registry.

On September 15, the bench granted Yadav a final two-week opportunity to present a concrete repayment proposal. His counsel, senior advocate P S Patwalia, had sought the additional time and said Yadav would deposit Rs 2 crore to demonstrate his bona fides.

The actor’s counsel had also told the court that Yadav had already spent around four-and-a-half months in prison and that friends from the entertainment industry had helped secure his release on bail.

The Supreme Court had warned at the September 15 hearing that Yadav’s conduct did not inspire confidence and criticised the failure to comply with earlier orders.

The court has now directed that the payment be made by Tuesday, with the matter scheduled for further hearing on Wednesday.

With PTI inputs