The court of the 7th additional chief judicial magistrate in Jamnagar today (February 17) sentenced filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi to two years’ imprisonment in a cheque bouncing case. The court also ordered him to deposit double the amount he owed to the complainant.
The complainant, Jamnagar resident Ashok Lal, had lent Rajkumar Santoshi Rs. 1 crore in 2015 for a film. Santoshi gave Ashok Lal 10 cheques of Rs. 10 lakh each. All these cheques bounced by December 2016. At first, the complainant tried to contact Santoshi but when he failed, he filed the suit under the Negotiable Instruments Act on May 18, 2017. The hearing in the case started on July 10, 2017 and the case was finally disposed today.
On April 15, 2023, the Jamnagar court had asked the filmmaker to pay Rs. 15,000 for every cheque which bounced. During this time, the filmmaker refused to accept the court summons. Even after he accepted, he failed to appear in court. He finally appeared after a bailable warrant was issued against him.
Today, the court ordered a two-year jail sentence for Rajkumar Santoshi and also asked him to repay double the amount to the complainant.
B.H. Patel appeared for Santoshi while P.V. Bhojani appeared for the complainant.