A sessions court in Rajkot upheld the lower court’s order sentencing filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi to one year’s imprisonment in each of the two cheque-bouncing cases. The sessions court also upheld the lower court’s order for payment of compensation.
Santoshi had filed an appeal against the lower court’s order, but the appeal was dismissed. The arguments put forth by senior advocate Praveen Kotecha on behalf of the complainant were accepted.
The court of the 5th additional chief judicial magistrate Rajkot on March 31, 2022 had sentenced Rajkumar Santoshi to one year’s simple imprisonment in the cheque-bouncing cases. The court had also ordered him to pay Rs. 5 lakh as compensation to the complainant, failing which he would have to undergo simple imprisonment for one more year.
The complainant, Anil Jethani, had lent Rajkumar Santoshi Rs. 5 lakh. Santoshi gave Jethani a cheque dated January 27, 2014 for Rs. 5 lakh to repay the loan. The cheque bounced on April 11, 2014. Besides this, Jethani’s wife had made an RTGS transfer of Rs. 20 lakh to Santoshi on September 29, 2010. The cheque issued by Santoshi to repay the said Rs. 20 lakh was also returned unpaid.