The Delhi High Court gave actor Rajpal Yadav temporary bail in a well-known case about bounced cheques, after businessman Madhav Gopal Aggarwal went to court. This followed a problem which began at a movie event – Aggarwal claimed he was not allowed on stage with Amitabh Bachchan. The case has involved a great many loan deals, cheques, court decisions and attempts to enforce rulings.
The case and the temporary bail
Rajpal Yadav, aged 54, was let out of Tihar Jail on the evening of February 17th, as the High Court had allowed him temporary bail regarding his six-month jail term in the connected cheque-bounce cases. The court gave this help after Yadav put Rs 1.5 crore with Aggarwal, and was told to hand in his passport. The next date for the court is March 18th. After being released, Yadav spoke to reporters and said that he was grateful for the support of the public, but wanted to give the law its due course. He said he would do what the court told him to, and put his lawyer, Bhaskar Upadhyay, in charge of all answers to do with the law. Yadav also said he was planning a full press meeting.
Money deals and cheques which were disputed
As Yadav’s lawyer told the Delhi High Court, Aggarwal had loaned Rs 5 crore to Yadav for the movie Ata Pata Laapata. The two people signed a first deal, then three extra deals which went on to August 2012. Under the last of these papers, Yadav gave five cheques which were meant to be cashed from December 2012. In December 2012, Aggarwal put the first cheque – for Rs 60,60,350 – into the bank, and the bank paid it. After this payment, Aggarwal gave a promise to take off a stop, and the two sides made a deal in 2013 which said the earlier deals were not worth anything. A new court ruling followed in 2016 and, as the lawyer said, that ruling is binding in law.
The event at the music start
The problem got worse publicly at the music start of Ata Pata Laapata in September 2012. Mr. Bachchan was at the start, and Aggarwal wanted to share the stage with him. Yadav’s group said no, saying Mr. Bachchan would not do a favour for being there. Aggarwal felt badly treated and went to the Delhi High Court asking for a stop on the movie until any money still owing was paid. That clash was a turning point in the relations between the two, according to the lawyer’s words. The legal steps which followed set the scene for complex law cases which mixed civil efforts to get money back with criminal cheque-bounce steps.
Court events, enforcement and supposed faults
Upadhyay said the 2016 court ruling put the money due at Rs 10.40 crore and needed getting back only by enforcement. A request for enforcement made that year led to a payment of Rs 1.90 crore. A person who would give a guarantee, Anant Dattaram, later gave property worth Rs 15 crore as a sure thing and asked for time to get money, but Aggarwal would not take the sure thing and instead asked for Yadav to be put in jail. The lawyer said faults came about when cheques from a third extra deal, already made not worth anything by a deal, were brought back to life by Aggarwal during enforcement. In March 2018, a lower court found Yadav guilty and put a fine of Rs 11.5 crore on him. In November 2018, an enforcement court gave three months in jail. Upadhyay said both orders could not run at the same time and pointed to a 2019 request to change the decision which is still waiting.
Bail rules, statements and what will happen next
While on temporary bail, Yadav is allowed to go to his niece’s wedding in Shahjahanabad, Uttar Pradesh. He put Rs 1.5 crore with Aggarwal as part of the bail rules and gave his passport to the court. The legal group wants a hearing on what is really meant and will push faults and steps in process which they say affected earlier rulings. Yadav thanked supporters and the film world for their help and once more said he would keep to the law. The court will look at the matter again on March 18th, when the real value of the requests still waiting and the disputed enforcement steps will likely get full looking at by a judge.
