Big blow to Rajpal Yadav! Delhi High Court upheld the sentence, fine worth crores also upheld

New Delhi: Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav has suffered a big setback in check bounce related cases. The Delhi High Court, while upholding the three-month sentence awarded against him by the lower court, made it clear that he was given several opportunities, but he was not successful in making the payment as per the stipulated terms. The court also accepted that all possibilities of compromise have been exhausted, hence no change will be made in the already decided punishment.

During the hearing of this case, the High Court tried several times to reach a compromise between the two parties. The court wanted the dispute to be resolved by mutual consent, but even after prolonged negotiations, no final agreement could be reached. Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma had reserved the decision on April 2 after hearing the arguments of both the sides. During the hearing, the court had also expressed displeasure over the actor’s changing stance regarding payment of dues. The court had said that there is a clear contradiction between the assurances given earlier and the arguments presented later.

Punishment will remain applicable in all seven cases

Delhi High Court has upheld the simple imprisonment of three months awarded to Rajpal Yadav in all seven cases related to check bounce. However, the court also made it clear that all the sentences will run together, so he will have to serve a total sentence of only three months. Apart from this, a fine of Rs 1.05 crore has also been imposed in each case. In this way, the total fine in all seven cases comes to Rs 7.35 crore. According to the court order, in each case Rs 1 crore 4 lakh 75 thousand will be given to the complainant, while Rs 25 thousand will be deposited in the state account.

The court expressed displeasure over the actor’s attitude

During the hearing, the bench of Justice Swarn Kanta Sharma made serious comments on the actor’s attitude. The court said that he was given the opportunity to pay several times, but he did not live up to his own promises. The court also said that there is a difference between the undertaking given earlier and the version presented in the court later, which makes it clear that his stand regarding payment kept changing continuously.

During the hearing, the court also gave several suggestions to maintain the possibility of a settlement. On the suggestion of the court, the complainant party was ready to settle the entire case by taking Rs 6 crore. However, Rajpal Yadav did not accept this proposal. He told the court that he has already suffered huge financial loss. The actor said that he even had to sell his property and he has already paid a lot. After this, the court also suggested payment of Rs 3 crore in installments within a fixed time limit, but this was only judicial advice, not a binding agreement. Despite this, both sides could not reach any conclusion.

Complainant raised legal questions

Advocate Avneet Singh Sikka, appearing for the complainant company, argued in the court that the actor has already accepted his punishment and cannot back out from it now. He also informed that the revision petition filed in the year 2024 was filed with a delay of 1,894 days from the scheduled time.

According to him, no concrete reason for this delay was placed before the court nor were sufficient grounds presented to condone it. The lawyer also said that merely completing the sentence does not end the financial responsibility related to check bounce. Therefore the complainant should get his statutory rights.