Ram Gopal Varma Files Appeal After Being Sentenced To 3 Months In Jail In Cheque Bounce Case
Ram Gopal Varma has filed an appeal after being sentenced to three months in jail for an old cheque bounce case.
In January this year, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma was sentenced to three months in jail by a Mumbai court in connection with a long-standing cheque bounce case. Since Varma was not present in court, a non-bailable warrant was also issued against him. In the latest update, Varma has challenged a judicial magistrate’s ruling in a cheque bounce case by filing an appeal with the Dindoshi sessions court, seeking relief from his jail sentence.
Last month, the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court found Ram Gopal Varma’s firm guilty in a cheque bounce case filed by a company based in Vile Parle. Earlier this month, Varma had filed an appeal before the sessions court challenging the order. During the hearing on Thursday, his lawyer requested bail and a suspension of the sentence. The sessions court judge has issued a notice to the complainant and scheduled the case for a hearing next month.
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Ram Gopal Varma has been convicted under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which penalises cheque dishonour due to insufficient funds or exceeding the account’s arranged limit. Along with the three-month jail sentence, he has been ordered to pay Rs 3.75 lakh as compensation to the complainant. Failure to make the payment within three months will result in an additional three months of imprisonment.
The complaint was filed in 2018 by a firm named Shree through one of its partners, Mahesh Chandra Mishra. The firm’s lawyers, Rajesh Kumar Patel and Alok Singh, stated that Shree has been in the business of supplying hard disks for several years. Between February and March 2018, the company provided hard disks to Ram Gopal Varma’s firm, for which a bill of Rs 2,38,220 was raised.
However, on June 1, 2018, when the complainant deposited a cheque issued by Varma to settle the dues, it was returned due to “insufficient funds." Upon approaching Varma, the complainant was given another cheque, which also bounced, this time with the reason “payment stopped by drawer." As a result, the complainant filed a criminal complaint with the Andheri Magistrate Court.
The filmmaker had contested at the time that the cheques neither bore his signature nor were issued by him. However, the magistrate rejected his defence, stating that no substantial evidence was presented to support his claim.
Varma, known for his groundbreaking films like Satya, Company, and Sarkar, had earlier reacted to this fresh controversy on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. He had written, “With regard to the news about me and Andheri court, I want to clarify that it is to do with a 7 year old case of Rs 2 lakh 38 thousand amount , relating to my ex-employee .. My advocates are attending to it. and since the matter is in court i cannot say anything further."
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