You are in jail because you failed to honour your commitment: Delhi High Court to Rajpal Yadav

The Delhi High Court on Thursday remarked that Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav ended up in jail because he failed to honour his commitment made before the Court.

"You did not go to jail because the Court passed an order. You have gone to jail because you have failed to comply with your own commitments to the Court. You were not giving the money because the Court asked you to, you were giving the money because you entered into a settlement," Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma remarked.

The judge made the observation as Yadav's lawyer said that his client was misguided about the proceedings.

Justice Sharma refuted the submission, stating that Yadav or his lawyers appeared before the Court over two dozen times and made the commitment that the money would be paid, but the statement was not honoured.

"25 to 30 times you appeared in this Court, and you were assisted by a senior counsel. Your senior counsel made the statements on your behalf. Mr Yadav appeared through VC before me at least five times and said I will honour the statement made by my counsel, and if I go abroad, I will earn some money and make the payment. You are not misguided," the Court remarked.

The Bench further said that counsel appearing for Yadav had made contrary statements about depositing money in the Court or giving it to the complainant.

The Court then said it will hear the case at 2:30 PM and in the meantime, Yadav's lawyer may seek clear instructions from him.

When the case was taken up in the afternoon session, the lawyer said that he was not able to get in touch with Yadav.

The Court then adjourned the case to Monday (February 16), on the request of Yadav's counsel.

It also sought the complainant's reply to the actor's bail application. The bail plea will also be heard on February 16.

The High Court had on February 2 directed Yadav to surrender in two days before a jail superintendent for failing to make payments to a complainant in a cheque bounce case.

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

The Court had stated that the order for surrender was passed only after Yadav failed to comply with any of the assurances made to the Court.

Finally, the actor surrendered on February 5.

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 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 instalments - ₹40 lakh by December 16, 2025 and the remaining ₹2.1 crore by January 15 this year. The Court noted that even to date, Yadav has not made the payments assured by him.

The Court deprecated Yadav’s conduct, observing that he sought repeated adjournments on the assurance of making payments and reaching a settlement.

Senior Advocate Abhijat appeared for Yadav in previous hearings.

Advocate Avneet Singh Sikka appeared for the complainant, Murli Projects Private Limited.