Rajpal Yadav gets a sigh of relief in cheque bounce case as the Supreme Court has referred the matter to mediation and also ordered the release of his passport so he can travel abroad for work.
On Thursday, during the hearing the court noted that the actor had deposited Rs 2 crore with the court’s registry.
“A sum of Rs 2 crore has been deposited by the petitioners with the registry. Owing to the issues briefly raised, it seems to us that the matter can be amicably resolved through mediation,” the bench said.
The CJI urged the other side to be reasonable. “Why don’t you now settle the dispute? If you are reasonable and fair… Rs 2 crore is lying with us. You should also be reasonable and try to settle,” he told the respondent.
The 54-year-old actor’s counsel told the court the actor had sold his ancestral property to arrange the money, and also flagged that he needs to travel to Canada for a professional assignment.
The court agreed to release his passport, subject to conditions imposed by the trial court, with a direction that he inform the court upon his return.
The case involves a series of seven cheque-dishonour matters in which Yadav was convicted and sentenced to three months in prison. His plea challenging that conviction is still pending on merits.