Cheque Bounce Cases: Delhi High Court Raps Actor Rajpal Yadav For Non-Compliance, Directs Immediate Surrender To Tihar Jail
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to recall its order directing Bollywood actor Rajpal Naurang Yadav to surrender before the concerned Jail Superintendent in relation to his conviction in cheque dishonour cases.
While directing the actor to surrender before the Jail Superintendent, Tihar, immediately today, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said that the Court cannot be expected to show or create special circumstances for any person merely because such a person belongs to a particular background or industry.
“A Court of law looks through only from the prism of equality as per law. While this Court, in the present case, has shown sufficient leniency towards the petitioner, it cannot lose sight of the plight of the complainant. The interests of justice require this Court to walk a careful line between compassion and discipline. Leniency, though sometimes necessary, cannot be extended endlessly, especially when it is met with continued non-compliance,” the judge said.
On February 02, the Court had asked Yadav to surrender by today after coming down heavily on him for repeatedly breaching undertakings given to the Court regarding payment of settlement amounts in cheque dishonour cases.
Justice Sharma had observed that the conduct of the actor “deserves to be deprecated”, noting that despite several opportunities and considerable leniency shown by the Court, Yadav failed to honour the payment commitments made to the complainant company, M/s Murli Projects Pvt. Ltd.
Today, the actor appeared before the Court with his counsel who said that Yadav could not comply with the order directing him to surrender before the Jail Superintendent, Tihar at 4 PM yesterday, since he was trying to arrange money to be paid to the complaint company.
The counsel said that Yada had reached Delhi at 5 PM and, therefore, he did not surrender. It was also stated that the request of the actor be treated as a mercy plea and that the order directing him to surrender before the Jail Superintendent be recalled to enable him to arrange for money to repay the dues towards him.
At the outset, Justice Sharma recorded her strong disapproval on the conduct of Bollywood actor for failing to comply with its order directing him to surrender before the Jail Superintendent, Tihar, observing that nothing prevented him from complying with judicial order.
The Court said that such a conduct reflects scant respect for law, adding that those who do not respect and honor law, themselves should not expect anything favourable from law.
“The law rewards its compliance, not its contempt. Extending continuous leniency to a person who has been disregarding the directions of the law would rather also send a message to the community that the law and Court's directions can be disregarded repeatedly without being punished for it,” the Court said.
“This Court, cannot, allow this message to be conveyed, by now recalling its order when the conduct of the petitioner before it does not merit it,” it added.
The matter is now listed for compliance on February 07.
Title: SH. RAJPAL NAURANG YADAV & ANR v. M/S. MURLI PROJECTS PVT. LTD & ANR