Delhi High Court Sentences Actor Rajpal Yadav To Three Months Imprisonment In Cheque Bounce Cases

The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the conviction of actor Rajpal Yadav in various cheque bounce cases registered against him. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 642]While upholding the conviction and sentence, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma also sentenced Yadav to undergo simple imprisonment of three months in each seven cases. All sentences have been directed to run concurrently.The actor has also been directed to pay Rs. 1.05 crore in each case to the complainant. Out of this fine, Rs. 1 crore 4 lakh 75 thousand is also to be paid to the complainant, along with Rs. 25,000 to be paid to the State.The Court has also directed his wife, Radha Yadav, to pay Rs. 5 lakh 51 thousand 380 to the complainant in each case.”Convict No. 1, M/s Shree Navrang Godawari Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., having already been struck off from the register of the Registrar of Companies and adequate compensation having been directed to be paid by Convict Nos. 2 and 3, stands admonished in all the seven complaint cases, as directed by the learned Sessions Court,” the judge added.The Court said that the sessions court had duly considered the amount already paid by Yadav to the complainant pursuant to the settlement and that there was no infirmity on part of the trial court in determining the fine. Justice Sharma noted that during the pendency of the matter, Rs. 2.25 crore has already been paid and released in favour of the complainant and since it has also been received, the said amount will be given due adjustment while computing the balance amount of fine and compensation. Further, the Court said that a predecessor bench had expressed disinclination to entertain the matter on merits but since Yadav had made statement that he was inclined to amicably resolve the dispute, indulgence was shown by the Court. The Court said that repeated opportunities were given to Yadav to honour the settlement but he failed to abide by the undertakings given. It also said that in the end of proceedings, Yadav refused to make any further payment to the complainant and in fact said that he is willing to go to the jail. The Court has also given two months time to Yadav to challenge the judgment in the Supreme Court.”Needless to state that in case a litigant wishes to choose 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. Courts adjudicate on the basis of settled legal principles and the record before them, and apply law equally to all, and expect from every litigant fairness and respect for the judicial process, the present litigant cannot be an exception to this rule,” the Court said It also held that Yadav does not deserve the discretionary benefit of release on probation under the Probation of Offenders Act. Earlier, the Court had refused to send the actor to jail after as he had made substantial amount of payment to the complainant. Yadav had moved Court challenging his conviction in the cases.The interim order for suspension of sentence was continuing from time to time. Previously, the Court had directed the actor to surrender before the Jail Superintendent, Tihar, immediately, while saying 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.On February 02, the Court had asked Yadav to surrender, 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.Title: SH. RAJPAL NAURANG YADAV & ANR v. M/S. MURLI PROJECTS PVT. LTD & ANR and other connected mattersCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 642Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Sentences Actor Rajpal Yadav To Three Months Imprisonment In Cheque Bounce Cases

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Delhi High Court Sentences Actor Rajpal Yadav To Three Months Imprisonment In Cheque Bounce Cases

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