New Delhi, July 10: Bollywood comedian Rajpal Yadav faces a three-month jail term after the Delhi High Court sustained his conviction across seven distinct cheque-bounce complaints. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma finalized the order, mandating that Yadav pay more than Rs 1 crore per case to the aggrieved party. The court did offer a temporary reprieve by allowing the actor two months to challenge this verdict in an appellate court before the sentence is fully executed.
The bench took into account the financial transactions that have already occurred during the prolonged legal battle. Justice Sharma declared that around Rs 2 crore already paid by the actor would be adjusted against the total liability. This ruling comes as the culmination of revision petitions moved by Yadav and his wife, who were fighting a 2019 sessions court decision that affirmed an even stricter six-month prison sentence first issued by a magisterial court.
The financial disputes originated from an unsuccessful creative venture rather than intentional fraud, according to the actor’s legal team. His defense maintained that it was a genuine transaction to finance the production of a movie, which bombed at the box office, resulting in huge financial losses to Yadav.
The case saw numerous twists over the last two years, including conditional freedoms that were repeatedly revoked. The high court initially paused the conviction in mid-2024 to allow for an amicable settlement, but the stance hardened when the judiciary observed that Yadav repeatedly breached his undertakings to the court to repay the amount. After being ordered to surrender to jail authorities earlier this year, Yadav managed to secure a brief suspension of the confinement by quickly depositing Rs 1.5 crore into the specified bank account, leading up to this final judgment.
