The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav two more weeks to deposit Rs 5 crore with the Court registry, while cautioning that his past conduct in connection with multiple cheque bounce cases does not inspire confidence
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana extended Yadav’s exemption from surrendering to jail as a final opportunity to comply with the Court’s earlier direction.
The Court had on September 8 exempted Yadav from surrendering, subject to his depositing Rs 5 crore by September 9. On Tuesday, his counsel, Senior Advocate P S Patwalia, sought two more weeks to arrange the amount.
Yadav contended that a later consent agreement rendered the original cheques invalid, making the complaints under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act non-maintainable.
Granting actor a final two-week extension to comply with its order, the Supreme Court expressed strong scepticism over his past conduct, remarking that it hoped the Bollywood actor was “not acting here also,” while extending his surrender exemption until October 5.
The Court also directed Yadav to submit his passport to the registry in the meantime.
The case arises out of a Rs 5 crore amount received by Yadav and his wife from private entity Murli Projects in connection with a film being produced by the actor.
The parties entered into four agreements after the film could not be completed within the agreed timelines. Under the third agreement, Yadav issued eight security cheques to Murli Projects. This agreement was subsequently replaced by a fourth agreement described as a consent agreement dated April 21, 2013.
According to Yadav’s plea, the consent agreement provided for the return of the eight security cheques and issuance of four fresh cheques of Rs 10 crore each. However, Yadav alleges that Murli Projects did not return the eight security cheques and instead presented seven of them, which were dishonoured. This resulted in criminal complaints being filed against Yadav and his wife under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
In May 2024, a sessions court convicted Yadav and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment. The Delhi High Court subsequently suspended his sentence after his counsel assured the Court that the dispute would be settled. The matter was also referred to the Delhi High Court Mediation Centre.
However, the High Court later noted that despite repeated assurances and several adjournments sought for settlement, Yadav had failed to make the promised payments. The Court specifically recorded that he had not deposited amounts he had undertaken to pay, including Rs 2.5 crore which he had sought permission to deposit in instalments.
In February 2026, the High Court directed Yadav to surrender before the jail authorities for failing to comply with its earlier orders. His subsequent plea seeking more time to surrender was also rejected. Yadav eventually surrendered on February 5 and remained in custody until the High Court granted him interim suspension of sentence after he deposited Rs 1.5 crore with the complainant.
However, after Yadav failed to deposit the remaining amount despite several undertakings, the High Court sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment. Yadav has challenged the order before the Supreme Court.
His plea primarily contends that the subsequent consent agreement rendered the earlier security cheques invalid and, consequently, the complaints based on those cheques were not maintainable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.
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