‘Make a good movie, rebuild your image’: Supreme Court tells Rajpal Yadav

• The Supreme Court noted Rajpal Yadav’s Rs 1.15 crore deposit in cheque-bounce cases linked to financing his film Ata Pata Laapata.

• His counsel said a prospective property buyer was willing to deposit another Rs 85 lakh by 12 October.

• The court expressed dissatisfaction with the actor’s conduct, offered him breathing time and listed the matter for next week.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday encouraged actor Rajpal Yadav to return to entertaining audiences and rebuild his reputation, while making clear that it remained dissatisfied with his conduct in a long-running cheque-bounce dispute.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana noted that Yadav had deposited Rs 1.15 crore in accordance with its previous order. His counsel also informed the court that a prospective buyer of his property was willing to deposit another Rs 85 lakh through a demand draft with the court registry by 12 October.

The bench said it was giving the actor breathing time and scheduled the next hearing for the following week.

Yadav, who attended the hearing personally, told the court that he had suffered substantial financial losses, including on his directorial debut, Ata Pata Laapata. He said he had worked in approximately 200–250 films but had incurred losses of Rs 200–250 crore over the past 13 years.

According to his submission, around Rs 17 crore had been lost on Ata Pata Laapata. He claimed that a press conference held against him had disrupted the film’s planned release in 1,200 cinemas and that it could not reach even a single theatre.

Responding to the actor, the Chief Justice asked whether he had a new film coming out and suggested that making a good film could help restore his public image. He also remarked that some advocates were good actors and could feature in a film.

The dispute dates back to a 2010 agreement under which M/s Murli Projects Pvt Ltd provided Rs 5 crore to finance Ata Pata Laapata.

The company’s complaint stated that Yadav issued seven cheques of Rs 1.05 crore each in 2013 towards a settlement, but that all were dishonoured. It also cited a 2012 agreement under which the actor, his wife and their company had undertaken to repay approximately Rs 11 crore, including interest.

On 8 September, the Supreme Court issued notice on Yadav’s plea and granted exemption from surrendering, subject to a Rs 5 crore deposit with its registry. On 15 September, it extended his exemption until 5 October.

Yadav approached the apex court after the Delhi High Court, on 10 July, upheld his conviction in the cheque-bounce cases and a three-month prison sentence.

The High Court declined to condone a delay of 1,894 days — more than five years — in filing revision petitions against the conviction. It also directed him to pay more than Rs 1 crore to the complainant in each of the seven cases, with approximately Rs 2 crore already paid to be adjusted against the amount due.

The court kept his sentence in abeyance for two months to allow him time to challenge the decision before the appellate court.

His wife, Radha Rajpal Yadav, was directed to pay approximately Rs 5.5 lakh to the complainant as a fine in each case. The High Court said failure to pay would attract three months’ simple imprisonment.

The revision petitions challenged a sessions court’s 2019 ruling that upheld the couple’s conviction by a magistrate in April 2018. The actor’s original six-month prison sentence was subsequently reduced to three months.

With PTI inputs