The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt in connection with a ₹30 crore cheating case registered in Rajasthan against them [Shwetambari V Bhatt and anr v. State of Rajasthan]..A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and VM Pancholi passed the order after the couple moved the top court against the Rajasthan High Court's decision to deny them bail.During the last hearing of the matter, the Court had granted Shwetambari Bhatt interim bail.The top court today proceeded to set aside the High Court's order denying the couple bail, after noting that Bhatts were willing to cooperate with the investigation. Both Vikram Bhatt and his wife have now been granted regular bail. The Court also urged them to endeavour to settle the case in mediation after noting that the case appeared to be more of a commercial than a criminal dispute."Dispute is on a commercial transaction. Though the Ingredients of cheating etc. is mentioned in FIR. Appropriate course will be to resolve the dispute in the aegis of mediation. Regular bail has been granted with the expectation that appellants shall act in a bona fide manner and make efforts for amicable resolution of commercial dispute. Regular bail has been granted with the expectation that appellants shall act in a bona fide manner and make efforts for amicable resolution of commercial dispute," the order said. .Notably, during today's hearing, Bhatt's counsel, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, also brought to the Court's notice that the case was recently discussed in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, where a legislator seemingly questioned how interim bail was granted in this case. "Majesty of this court was questioned... In the Rajasthan assembly, a question was raised, how this court granted interim bail. We have the video as well," Dave said.According to reports, a Rajasthan MLA had observed in the Assembly that interim bail had been granted to some of the accused, while some co-accused were yet to be arrested because of their influence, while urging for a thorough probe in the case. The Court today warned that it would transfer the case out of Rajasthan if any attempts are made to influence how the case should proceed. "We know how to take stern action. If any of your machinery (complainant or related party in Rajasthan) tries to do any misadventure... We will transfer everything to Mumbai.. no one should be in the mistaken belief that just because you are speaking in assembly you will be exempted from any action. We know what to do then," the Bench said. .The case reportedly involves allegations that the filmmaker and his wife misused funds procured for film production from the complainant Dr Ajay Murdia, who runs the Indira Group of Companies, including fertility chain Indira IVF and an entertainment firm called Indira Entertainment LLP.Bhatt and his wife were arrested in the case in December 2025 and placed in judicial custody. On January 31 this year, the Rajasthan High Court's Jodhpur Bench dismissed their bail plea, prompting them to approach the Supreme Court for relief.During the last hearing of the case, the Bench had questioned whether a criminal case ought to have been initiated in what appeared to be a money recovery matter. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh and Advocate on Record Nitin Saluja appeared for the complainant in the case. Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal represented the State of Rajasthan. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented the Bhatts during the last hearing. Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave appeared for them today..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
