In a press conference in Mumbai, actor-comedian Rajpal Yadav was defending himself in the Rs 9 crore debt and bounced-check cases, and his lawyer said the person suing him wanted jail, not a settlement. Yadav’s lawyer, Bhaskar Upadhyay, said Madhav Gopal Agarwal of Ms Murali Projects Pvt Ltd was acting to get even. The lawyer said Agarwal didn’t want to settle things peacefully, but wanted to put Yadav in jail.
Upadhyay said that in 2018, Yadav had offered the court a security deposit and was prepared to give them the papers for his property. But Agarwal turned down both of those things and instead tried to have him put in prison, and that the person suing was damaging Yadav’s reputation. Agarwal had put Rs 5 crore into Yadav’s film, Ata Pata Laapata.
Lawyer says complainant wanted jail, not settlement
At the microphone, Yadav’s lawyer, Bhaskar Upadhyay, charged Madhav Gopal Agarwal, of Ms Murali Projects Pvt Ltd, with acting from a place of revenge. The lawyer stated the complainant didn’t want to solve the problem in a friendly way, but wanted Yadav sent to jail.
Upadhyay said that Yadav had put down a security sum with the court in 2018 and was willing to hand over property documents. He said Agarwal turned down those moves and instead tried to imprison Yadav, and that the complainant was ruining Yadav’s good name. Agarwal had put Rs 5 crore into Yadav’s movie Ata Pata Laapata.
Yadav tells of a trust-based verbal deal
Yadav talked for a while and said the first deal was a private agreement based on trust, and wasn’t done with lawyers. He said the deal was a spoken one, and that he had promised to give back Rs 8 crore after the film came out, calling it a “family matter.”
He admitted he’d signed papers without reading them, thinking the lender’s money and their connection would mean the deal wouldn’t end up in court. Calling the fight a matter of pride, he said the other side wanted him to give in, not to pay. Yadav also said no lawyer was there when the deal was made, and even his family didn’t know about it at the time.
How the case has gone, and what the legal situation is now
The trouble began in 2010, when Yadav borrowed Rs 5 crore from Murali Projects of Delhi to pay for his first movie as director, Ata Pata Laapata, which came out in 2012. After the film didn’t do well, paying the money back fell apart, and several checks were said to have bounced.
In April 2018, a Magistrate Court found Yadav and his wife guilty under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The court pointed to seven checks that hadn’t been honored and ordered six months in jail, a ruling a Sessions Court supported in early 2019.
By October 2025, Yadav had put down Rs 75 lakh using demand drafts, but the courts said most of what he owed was still not paid. On February 4, 2026, a last-minute request for more time was turned down, with the judge saying Yadav hadn’t kept almost 20 promises in the past.
He turned himself in at Tihar Jail on February 5, after the Delhi High Court refused to give him more time. Not long after, the High Court gave him temporary bail until March 18, on the condition of a Rs 1 lakh bond and someone to guarantee it. The case is still going on, and the court is making sure Yadav does what he has to.
Important projects and a strong plan to come back
While dealing with the court, Yadav said he had gotten a number of large advertising deals that weren’t connected to his movies. He said these deals were worth Rs 1,200 crore over seven years, spread across four deals which gave him both money and a share of the company.
He also said he had ten films coming up. Bhooth Bangla, directed by Priyadarshan and also starring Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Tabu, and Wamiqa Gabbi, is to be released on April 10. He is also in Welcome to the Jungle, due June 26, which has a lot of stars in it.
Thanks to supporters, and a promise to give money back
Yadav thanked people all over the country for helping him during his recent legal problems. He said people had sent help through social media, from children’s piggy banks to as much as Rs 1 crore, and said he would send out a public thank-you.
He asked people who had given money to share their bank details so he could give it back to them with respect, and when he could. He added that, while he plans to pay everyone back, he feels he could never really pay back the emotional help from the children who had been on his side.
What this means for the case and Yadav’s future
The lawyer’s claims about someone wanting revenge and the supposed turning down of a security deposit will probably be looked at closely as the case goes on. Under the Negotiable Instruments Act, courts are more interested in whether payments can be made and promises kept, than in whether a project is a success.
For now, Yadav’s most pressing job is to do what the law tells him to do, while he plans a high-profile return to work. The claims against the person suing are just statements by the defense, and not what a court has found. The next few weeks will show if the actor can deal with court dates and an ambitious set of movies and advertising deals.
