Supreme Court Grants Bail To Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt & Wife In Cheating Case Over Movie Deal, Sends Parties To Mediation

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to film director Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt in an alleged multi-crore cheating case over a dispute regarding the making of the biopic of the late wife of Ajay Murdia, owner of Indira IVF.Bhatt and his wife were arrested from Mumbai by the Rajasthan Police last December and were lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail. Last week, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Shwetambari Bhatt.Today, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi set aside the Rajasthan High Court's order which denied bail to the Bhatts. Granting them regular bail, the bench said that it expected the parties to make earnest efforts to settle the dispute through mediation.The bench observed that the case essentially was a dispute arising out of a commercial transaction. The bench directed the parties to appear before the Supreme Court Mediation Centre with a view to explore the possibility of settling their payment dispute."It seems to us that dispute essentially pertains to a commercial transaction, though the ingredients of committing offence of cheating etc have been expressly mentioned in the FIR. Be that as it may, it may be appropriate for the parties to resolve the disputes through mediation. The regular bail has been granted with the expectation that the appellants will try and make efforts for the amicable resolution of the dispute," the bench observed in the order.Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave appeared for the Bhatts. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh appeared for Ajay Murdia. Singh did not object to the grant of bail to explore the possibility of mediation. He added that there is another FIR registered against Vikram Bhatt in Mumbai for another cheating offence. "His company is in difficulty and he is asking money based on his past reputation, people are giving money, and he is using the money into his own company which is going into liquidation," Singh said. Dave said that he is taking money to finish his movies. Dave added that as per the contract, 4 movies were agreed and two are already completed, and the third is complete 70%, and if he is in custody, he won't be able to complete.The case stems from a complaint filed by Murdia that Bhatt and his wife induced him to invest over Rs 30 crore in a biopic of his late wife, promising high returns which never got materialised.Case : Shwetambari Bhatt and another v. State of Rajasthan | SLP(Crl) 2647/2026

Supreme Court Grants Bail To Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt & Wife In Cheating Case Over Movie Deal, Sends Parties To Mediation

Amisha Shrivastava

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