Rajpal Yadav jailed for 3 months in cheque bounce case

The Delhi High Court on Friday sentenced Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav to three months’ simple imprisonment in a cheque bounce case, holding that he repeatedly failed to honour undertakings given to the court and clear his outstanding dues despite several opportunities.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma passed the order in a batch of seven petitions filed by Murli Projects Private Limited. The court directed that the three-month sentence awarded in each of the seven cases would run concurrently. It also ordered Yadav to pay Rs 1.05 crore in each case, while his wife, Radha Rajpal Yadav, was directed to pay a fine of over Rs 5 lakh in each case.

The court observed that Yadav had repeatedly assured it that he would settle the dispute and repay the complainant, but failed to fulfil those commitments. “Opportunities were granted to honour the settlement. He and his counsel made several statements and provided multiple assurances. Despite these repeated opportunities and assurances, he failed to honour the undertakings he had given,” Justice Sharma said while pronouncing the order. Taking note of the circumstances, the court granted Yadav two months’ time to challenge the judgment before a higher court.

The case stems from a May 2024 order of a sessions court that had convicted Yadav and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment in a cheque dishonour case. The High Court subsequently suspended the sentence after his counsel assured that the dispute would be amicably resolved, following which the matter was referred to the Delhi High Court Mediation Centre.

However, the settlement failed to materialise. The High Court found that despite repeated adjournments and assurances, Yadav did not deposit the amount he had undertaken to pay, including Rs 2.5 crore, for which he had sought permission to pay in instalments.

In February, the High Court directed the actor to surrender before jail authorities after finding him in violation of its earlier directions. His plea seeking additional time to surrender was also rejected. Yadav eventually surrendered on February 5 and remained in custody until he secured interim suspension of sentence after depositing Rs 1.5 crore with the complainant.

The court noted that despite the interim relief and repeated undertakings, Yadav failed to pay the remaining amount, leading to the present sentence.