The Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav's plea for extension of time to surrender himself before a jail superintendent in a cheque bounce case [Rajpal Naurang Yadav & Anr v. M/s Murli Projects Pvt Ltd & Anr].
On Monday, Yadav had been directed to surrender by February 04 before a jail superintendent for failing to make payments to a complainant in a cheque bounce case.
However, he instead moved a plea for extension of time.
Rejecting the same, Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma said the order for surrender was passed only after he failed to comply with any of the assurances made to the Court.
"You were granted two days time to surrender as you said you were in Bombay. I dont think there is any ground. There is no ground to show leniency anymroe. Today you have to surrender at 4pm," the Bench said.
In May 2024, a Sessions Court had convicted and sentenced Yadav to six months jail in a cheque bounce case.
However, the High Court later suspended his sentence on the assurance of his counsel that he was willing to amicably settle the issue with the production company he was indebted to. He failed to do so.
On Monday, the Court rejected Yadav’s explanation that the payment could not be made due to an inadvertent error in the demand draft, noting that he did not take any steps to rectify the error.
Yadav had earlier asked to be allowed to pay the dues of ₹2.5 crore in two installments - ₹40 lakh by December 16, 2025 and the remaining ₹2.1 crore by January 15 this year. The Court noted that even till date, Yadav has not made the payments assured by him.
“Shockingly, even today, this Court has been informed that neither have the demand drafts been deposited with the learned Registrar General nor has the amount of ₹2.10 crores been paid,” Justice Sharma noted recently
The Court deprecated Yadav’s conduct, observing that he sought repeated adjournments on the assurance of making payments and reaching settlement. The order stated,
“This Court is of the view that the conduct of the petitioner no. 1 deserves to be deprecated. Despite repeatedly giving assurances and seeking indulgence of this Court, the petitioner no. 1 has failed to comply with the orders passed from time to time.”
Accordingly, the Court directed Yadav to surrender before the concerned jail superintendent by February 4.