In a major setback for Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav, the Delhi High Court on Friday, upheld his conviction in the cheque bounce case. Announcing its decision, the High Court called Yadav’s conduct ‘dubious’ and asked the authorities to send him back to jail.
In 2010, Yadav borrowed Rs 5 crore from M/s Murali Projects Pvt Ltd for his directorial debut film, Ata Pata Laapata, but the film flopped at the box office. After alleged repayment defaults, the issue snowballed into a long legal battle.
In April 2018, a magistrate court convicted Rajpal Yadav and his wife, Radha, in the cheque bounce case and sentenced him to six months in jail. The sessions court upheld the conviction in early 2019, after which Yadav approached the Delhi High Court in appeal. In June 2024, the High Court temporarily suspended his sentence and asked him to take “sincere and genuine measures" to repay the nearly Rs 9 crore dues. However, on February 2 this year, the court ordered him to surrender, noting that he had repeatedly failed to honour his commitments to repay the amount.
Before surrendering, Rajpal spoke to Bollywood Hungama and made an emotional remark. “Sir, kya karoon? Mere paas paise nahin hain. Aur koi upaay nahin dikhta (Sir, what to do? I don’t have the money to pay back. Can’t see another way out)," he said. After the actor surrendered, he was put in Delhi’s Tihar jail.
During Rajpal Yadav’s difficult time, several actors decided to give financial aid and even made a public appeal to fellow members of the industry to help him in these tough times. From Sonu Sood, Ajay Devgn and Salman Khan to Gurmeet Choudhary, many lent support to him. Meanwhile, many singers and filmmakers gave him advance payments and cast him in their upcoming projects. Yadav was granted bail in connection to the case on February 16.
Source: News18