Rajpal Yadav gets 3-month jail in cheque-bounce cases

NEW DELHI: Delhi HC Friday upheld the conviction of actor Rajpal Yadav in multiple cheque-bounce cases and sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment. “Law is not a script that can be rewritten at the will of an actor, nor can legal positions be altered with every change of strategy, whosoever the litigant may be,” Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma observed.HC ordered Yadav to pay over Rs 1 crore to the complainant in each of the seven cases. The Rs 2 crore (approx.) already paid by the actor shall be adjusted, HC said, keeping the sentence in abeyance for two months to allow Yadav time to appeal. HC also fined the actor’s wife, Radha Rajpal Yadav, around Rs 5.5 lakh in each case, payable to the complainant, and warned of a three-month jail term if she fails to pay.In a 108-page verdict, HC said Yadav repeatedly failed to honour his undertakings on making payment to the complainant, M/s Murali Projects Pvt Ltd, and while the court made “earnest efforts” to facilitate an amicable resolution in the matter, the actor ultimately categorically refused to make any further payment.During the hearing, Yadav stated that he would rather go to jail five times than return the money, to which Justice Sharma responded that if a litigant wished to choose imprisonment rather than abide by multiple undertakings he submitted in court, it was his choice.According to the 2013 complaint, Yadav tendered seven cheques towards settlement of Rs 5 crore financial assistance to him for a film in 2010, which were dishonoured.