"He is not running away": Delhi High Court refuses to send Rajpal Yadav to jail again

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday remarked that it is not sending Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav to jail again by vacating its interim order suspending his sentence in the cheque bounce case.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made the remark as she refused to pass any orders on an application filed by the complainant against Yadav seeking vacation of the Court’s interim order suspending his sentence. 

“My application for vacation of the suspension of sentence is also pending,” the counsel for the complainant told the Court. 

Justice Sharma responded,

“I do not find any reason. He is not running away. He is still here. He is not running away. Kahin nahi jaa rahe (He is not going anywhere),” the Court remarked. 

Notably, Justice Sharma had passed an interim order on February 16, suspending Yadav's sentence. This paved the way for him to walk out of jail, where he had been since February 5.

Today, the actor appeared before the Court in person and made some submissions.

Counsel for the complainant told the Court that Yadav was trying to turn the case into a media trial.

"Either he (Yadav) should argue, or his counsel," the lawyer said. 

Justice Sharma replied that the Court is not bothered about the media reporting. 

“Media trial ka kya hai wo to har ek cheez ka hota rehta hai. Mujhe koi fark nahi padta. Main media dekhti hi nhi hu…Media me kya hota hai meri kaan, aankhein sab band hoti hai. Mere liye he is an ordinary litigant, you are an ordinary litigant. (What about media trials? That happens with everything. It doesn't matter to me. I don't watch the media at all...Whatever happens in the media, my ears and eyes are closed. For me, he [Yadav] is an ordinary litigant. You are an ordinary litigant,” Justice Sharma said. 

She added that the Court did not hear Yadav merely because he is an actor.

“Just because he is an actor main inko nahi sun rahi hu. Main to koi bhi litigant aate hain unko bhi sunti hu. Aap inko importance de rahe ho. Aur ek baat aur hai ki us litigant ne nahi bola ki main so and so hu (I am not listening to him just because he is an actor. I listen to every litigant. You're giving him importance. And one more thing, that litigant didn't say that I'm so and so),” the Court added. 

Ultimately, the Bench said that it will hear Yadav’s case on April 1 and endeavour to decide it finally. 

The Court added that if Yadav still wants to settle the dispute and pay back the money, then he should come back with a proposal. 

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 February 2, the High Court rejected Yadav’s explanation that the payment could not be made due to an inadvertent error in the demand draft. The Court noted that he did not take any steps to rectify the error.

Yadav had earlier sought permission to pay the dues of ₹2.5 crore in two instalments - ₹40 lakh by December 16, 2025 and the remaining ₹2.1 crore by January 15 this year. The Court on February 2 noted that Yadav had not made the payments assured by him.

Thus, it directed Yadav to surrender within two days before a jail superintendent for failing to make payments to a complainant in a cheque bounce case.

However, on February 4, he again made a plea for extension of time. This plea was rejected by the Court.

Finally, the actor surrendered on February 5.