Mumbai Police file closure report in Vashu Bhagnani and Ali Abbas Zafar legal dispute case

Such a report indicates that while the complaint was not malicious, there is insufficient evidence available to proceed with prosecution.

• Mumbai Police file closure report in Bhagnani's FIR on Zafar
• No evidence of fraud found in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan dispute
• Court to decide after Bhagnani's protest petition

Did our AI summary help?

Filmmaker Vashu Bhagnani’s FIR against director Ali Abbas Zafar has entered a new phase, with the Mumbai Police submitting a closure report before the Bandra Magistrate Court.

In its findings, the police stated that executive producer Himanshu Mehra and the duo’s financial officer Ekesh Ranadive had been named under a “misconception that there was a fraud.”

The investigating agency recently filed a ‘C’ Summary report in the matter. A ‘C’ Summary report is filed by police to close a criminal case when, upon investigation, it is found to be neither entirely false nor true, but instead based on a "mistake of fact" or when the dispute is of a civil nature, as reported by India Today.

Such a report indicates that while the complaint was not malicious, there is insufficient evidence available to proceed with prosecution.

Despite the closure report, Vashu Bhagnani has submitted a protest petition opposing the police findings in the FIR registered at his behest. The complaint had alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and defamation in connection with the widely discussed fallout over the 2024 film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, which was co-produced by Bhagnani and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar.

Bhagnani had claimed that his company invested Rs 230 crore in the making of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Among his key allegations, he asserted that he was not provided with analytical details explaining how the funds were spent and for what specific purposes.

According to the police report, Vashu Bhagnani alleged that the amount of fraud stood at Rs 9 crore. However, investigators stated that the complainant did not furnish specific details explaining how a fraud to the tune of Rs 9 crore was committed, how any alleged forgery was executed, or provide an analysis of the claimed fraudulent amount — including who was allegedly overpaid, which items were overpriced, whether any payments were made for work not carried out, or whether any vendors were fictitious.

Police further noted that while allegations of a fraudulent nature were made, no evidence of fraud or fabrication of documents was uncovered during the course of the investigation.

Also read: Rajpal Yadav calls Rs 9 crore debt and cheque-bounce case an ‘ego clash’, speaks out amid legal battle

In its submission to the Bandra court, the police have requested that the “said crime be classified as neither true nor false,” effectively seeking formal closure of the case unless the court directs further action.

The matter will now be decided by the court, which will consider both the closure report and Bhagnani’s protest petition before determining the next course of action.