Cheque bounce case Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi gets ad-interim bail from Gujarat HC

Ahmedabad, Dec 2 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court on Monday granted ad-interim bail to film director Rajkumar Santoshi in a cheque bounce case in which he was sentenced to one year in jail by a court in Rajkot in 2022.
Justice MR Mengdey, while granting ad-interim bail, noted that Santoshi had already deposited a sum of Rs 6 lakh before the session court in Rajkot against the order of conviction under Negotiable Instruments Act (NI Act).
The HC asked him to deposit the remaining amount of Rs 16.5 lakh before the registry within a period of one week.
The court also issued notice to the respondents returnable on February 13.
Santoshi, a director, producer and scriptwriter, is well known for action blockbusters like "Ghayal" and "Ghatak", the court drama "Damini" and the iconic comedy film "Andaz Apna Apna".
The sessions court at Rajkot had, on March 31, 2022, convicted him under section 138 of the NI Act and had sentenced him to simple imprisonment of one year.
In his plea challenging the sessions court order, Santoshi said it was "wrongly, erroneously and illegally" passed and requested it to be quashed.
The complainant in the case had claimed his wife had transferred Rs 20 lakh to Santoshi in 2010 and was supposed to get Rs 60 lakh as compensation.
The filmmaker has repaid Rs 37.5 lakh, Santoshi's lawyer Bahdrish Raju told court.
Of the remaining Rs 22.5 lakh remaining, a sum of Rs 6 lakh has been deposited in the Rajkot court, while a demand draft is ready for the balance Rs 16.5 lakh, Raju said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)