"If he fails to do so, he’ll be imprisoned."
Veteran filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi has been sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly bouncing cheques.
However, Rajkumar has firmly denied the allegation.
Not only has the director been sentenced to two years behind bars but a court has also ruled that he must pay the complainant double what he owes.
The complainant is Ashok Lal, a prominent industrialist and shipping magnate from Jamnagar.
Lal apparently lent Rajkumar over Rs 1. crore (£96,000) to help the latter produce a film in 2015.
In repayment, Rajkumar Santoshi gave Lal 10 cheques totalling Rs. 1 crore.
However, Lal alleged that all the cheques bounced and when he tried to contact Rajkumar, the director was unavailable.
As per Bollywood Hungama, Lal’s lawyer Piyush Bhojani explained:
“The maximum imprisonment in such negotiable cases is two years and the maximum fine is double the amount owed.
“Once the judgment is announced, the accused gets a period of 30 days to file an appeal.
“After filing the appeal, he has to deposit 20% of the amount.
“In other words, he’s bound to deposit Rs. 22 lakhs (£21,000). If he fails to do so, he’ll be imprisoned.
“If we win after he files the appeal, he’ll go to the High Court where again, he’ll have to deposit 20% of the amount.
“Three cases were also filed against [Rajkumar] in 2014.”
Detailing how Lal met Rajkumar Santoshi, Bhojani continued:
“Mr Ashok Lal is a businessman. He also has an office and residence in Mumbai.
“They met and became friends. In the past, Mr Santoshi had taken the loan several times but he had always returned the amount within the stipulated time.
“This time, however, he defaulted.”
The lawyer also specified: “[Rajkumar] came for the hearings twice. He had to come when the case was filed in 2017.
“It’s mandatory. Then he attended a hearing last year. This time probably, he was aware that he’d be punished.
“Hence, he skipped attending the hearing. But now, he’ll have to attend to file the appeal.
“It can’t be done without his presence.
“Mr Ashok Lal is ultra-rich and has his own private jet.
“The amount was not a significant one for him.
“But this case was important for us so that a message is sent loud and clear to everyone that if they try to run away with his money, he/she will be punished.”
On the other hand, Rajkumar’s lawyer, Binesh Patel defended the director. He expressed:
“First of all, the court has stayed its judgement for 30 days and has granted Mr Santoshi bail after we sought time to appeal against the judgement at a higher forum.
“The prosecution didn’t produce any documentary evidence to prove that Mr Santoshi had taken money at all.
“The prosecution itself has admitted that a third party had collected the said money from the complainant.
“In return, the third party had provided altered eleven cheques of Rs.10 lakh (£9,558) each, which Mr Santoshi was not aware of.
“The magisterial court overlooked these facts and ruled against us.
“Therefore, on the grounds of invalid and false claims, alterations happened in the cheques.
“The fact is that the complainants do not want to present or call in the said third party who had collected the money, about whom Mr Santoshi does not know.
“So, we shall appeal at a higher forum with the above-highlighted points and even more.”
Meanwhile, on the work front, Rajkumar is set to direct Lahore, 1947, starring Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta in lead roles, with Aamir Khan serving as producer.
The filmmaker has also confirmed the inclusion of Shabana Azmi in the cast.
Rajkumar Santoshi said: “Shabana Ji has played various kinds of characters in her life.
“She is a tremendously talented actress and her character in Lahore, 1947 is a central character in the film and the story revolves around her character.”
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