HC upholds Rajpal Yadav conviction

The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the conviction of actor Rajpal Yadav in multiple cheque-bounce cases and sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma refused to condone the “extraordinary” delay of 1,894 days, or more than five years, in filing petitions against the conviction and directed Yadav to pay more than Rs 1 crore to the complainant in each of the seven complaints.

The judge, however, clarified that around Rs 2 crore already paid by the actor shall be adjusted, and kept the sentence in abeyance for two months to give Yadav time to approach the appellate court against the decision.

In the 108-page verdict, Justice Sharma observed that Yadav repeatedly failed to honour his undertakings on making payment to the complainant, M/s Murali Projects Pvt Ltd, and while the court made “earnest efforts” to facilitate an amicable resolution in the matter, the actor ultimately categorically refused to make any further payment.

“What is even more significant is that, on the date when the hearing in the present petitions concluded, petitioner No. 1 (Yadav) stated before this court that ‘he was not willing to pay any amount to the complainant and would rather go to jail five times than return the money’,” the court noted in the judgement.

“In case a litigant wishes to choose the path of imprisonment rather than abiding by multiple undertakings given by him in the court, it is entirely his choice. Law is not a script that can be rewritten at the will of an actor, nor can legal positions be altered with every change of strategy, whosoever the litigant may be,” the court observed.

The court rejected Yadav’s plea seeking release on probation and held that there was no infirmity in the lower court’s order of sentence.

“Petitioner No. 1 (convict No. 2), Rajpal Naurang Yadav, is sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three months in each of the seven complaint cases and to pay a fine of Rs 1.05 crore in each case. In default of payment of the fine, he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a further period of six months,” the court ordered.

It said that out of the fine amount, Rs 1.04 crore shall be given to the complainant and Rs 25,000 to the state in each case.

The court also ordered the actor’s wife, Radha Rajpal Yadav, to pay around Rs 5.5 lakh as fine to the complainant in each case.

In default of payment of fine, she shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three months, it added.

The complainant alleged that in 2013, Yadav tendered seven cheques of Rs 1.05 crore each towards settlement of financial assistance of Rs 5 crore to him for a film in 2010, which were dishonoured.

According to the complainant, as per an agreement between the parties in 2012, Yadav, his wife and their company had agreed to repay around Rs 11 crore, including interest.

The court’s verdict came on revision petitions filed by Yadav and his wife challenging the 2019 decision of a sessions court, which upheld their conviction by a magisterial court in the cheque-bounce cases in April 2018.

The magisterial court had sentenced the actor to six months’ imprisonment, which was subsequently reduced to three months.

Yadav sought to justify the delay of more than five years in filing the revision petitions by claiming that he received incorrect legal advice by his earlier lawyer and that he “believed” the conviction had already been challenged.

Rejecting the assertion, the court said that Yadav was an accomplished actor, who possessed sufficient means and resources and had throughout been represented by experienced and eminent members of the Bar.

“In such circumstances, the plea that the petitioners remained under a misconception for more than five years, and believed that they had challenged their conviction as well, despite them actively pursuing legal proceedings before different courts and engaging several counsels during this period, cannot be accepted,” the court said.

“The applications seeking condonation of delay are dismissed. As a sequitur thereto, the revision petitions are also dismissed,” it concluded.

In June 2024, the high court temporarily suspended Yadav’s conviction, subject to him adopting “sincere and genuine measures” to explore the possibility of reaching an amicable settlement with the opposite party.

At that time, Yadav’s counsel had said that there was a genuine transaction to finance the production of a movie, which bombed at the Box Office, resulting in huge financial losses to the actor.

However, on February 2, the court asked Yadav to surrender on February 4, observing that he repeatedly breached his undertakings to the court to repay the amount.

On February 16, the court suspended his sentence for the time being and permitted him to be released from jail after he deposited Rs 1.5 crore in the bank account of the complainant.