Ram Gopal Varma gets 3 months jail in cheque bounce case, arrest warrant issued

Mumbai: A court in Andheri has sentenced filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma to three months of imprisonment in a cheque bounce case and issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him. Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Y P Pujari convicted Varma on Tuesday under the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act.

The court also directed Varma to pay Rs 3,72,219 as compensation to the complainant within three months. However, since Varma was not present in court when the order was issued, a standing non-bailable warrant was issued for his arrest to execute the sentence under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The case dates back to 2018, when a company filed a cheque bounce complaint against Varma's firm. The court had earlier granted him bail in April 2022 on a cash security of Rs 5,000.

Addressing the issue on his X account, Varma wrote: "With regard to the news about me and Andheri court, I want to clarify that it is to do with a 7-year-old case of Rs 2.38 lakh, relating to my ex-employee. My advocates are attending." He further stated, "It is not about settling the Rs 2.38 lakh. The contention was about refusing to be exploited in the attempts to fabricate... Anyway, that's all I can say for now."

According to an affidavit submitted by the complainant’s advocates, Rajesh Kumar Patel and Alok Singh, the complainant’s firm had provided hard disks worth Rs 2,38,220 to Varma’s company between February and March 2018. A cheque issued by the accused on June 1, 2018, to settle the payment was dishonoured due to insufficient funds. Subsequently, a second cheque for the same amount was issued, but it was dishonoured as well, with the reason stated as “payment stopped by drawer.”

The complainant alleged that they were left with no option but to seek legal recourse.