‘Your place is in jail’: SC pulls up Rajpal Yadav for failing to honour payment undertaking

The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on actor Rajpal Yadav for failing to honour his undertaking to deposit money towards dues owed to a private firm in a long-running series of cheque-bounce cases.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said Yadav had failed to comply with its September 15 order granting him two weeks to come up with a concrete proposal to clear the outstanding amount and directing him to deposit Rs 2 crore with the court registry.

When Yadav’s counsel said the complainant firm was not poor, Justice Bagchi retorted, “They may be richer than you, but they are poor to the extent you have swindled them.”

“This arrogance needs to be put in its right place. You should know when to open your mouth. Your place is in jail,” the judge said.

The bench directed Yadav to make the payment by Tuesday and listed the matter for Wednesday as the first case.

The court said it could dismiss Yadav’s appeal but was reluctant to do so as that could jeopardise the complainant’s chances of recovering the money.

During the hearing, Yadav’s counsel produced a demand draft of Rs 50 lakh and said it was being processed by the bank. “Is this genuine or not? We don’t know,” the bench observed.

Senior advocate Ajit Sinha, appearing for the complainant, M/s Murali Projects Pvt Ltd, accused Yadav of repeatedly failing to comply with court directions.

“He is a film actor. He is acting here also. He has no respect for the majesty of the institution,” Sinha said.

The complainant firm has alleged that Yadav received financial assistance of Rs 5 crore in 2010 for a film and tendered seven cheques of Rs 1.05 crore each towards settlement of the dues in 2013. The cheques were subsequently dishonoured.

According to the firm, an agreement reached in 2012 required Yadav, his wife and their company to repay around Rs 11 crore, including interest.

On September 15, the top court had granted Yadav a final opportunity to propose a payment plan and extended his exemption from surrendering until October 5. The bench had also directed him to deposit Rs 2 crore, with the actor’s counsel saying the payment would demonstrate his bona fides.

Earlier, on September 8, the court had issued notice on Yadav’s plea and said he would be exempted from surrendering subject to depositing Rs 5 crore with the registry.

On July 10, the Delhi High Court upheld Yadav’s conviction in multiple cheque-bounce cases and sentenced him to three months in prison.

The high court had refused to condone an “extraordinary” delay of 1,894 days in filing petitions challenging the conviction and directed Yadav to pay more than Rs 1 crore to the complainant in each of the seven cases.

It adjusted around Rs 2 crore already paid by Yadav and kept his sentence in abeyance for two months to enable him to approach the appellate court.

The high court also directed Yadav’s wife, Radha Rajpal Yadav, to pay a fine of around Rs 5.5 lakh to the complainant in each case, with three months of simple imprisonment in default.

The high court’s verdict had come on revision petitions filed by Yadav and his wife against a 2019 sessions court order upholding their conviction by a magisterial court in April 2018.

The magisterial court had initially sentenced Yadav to six months in prison, which was later reduced to three months.

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