Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi sentenced to 2 years in jail, fined Rs 2 crore in cheque bounce case

The filmmaker repaid the loan but the cheques bounced.

Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi has been sentenced to two years in jail and fined Rs 2 crore by a local court in Gujarat over a cheque bounce case. The court in Jamnagar has granted the director a 30-day stay to appeal the order.

The complaint was filed by a Jamnagar resident and the owner of Shreeji Shipping, Ashok Lal. The industrialist had lent Rs 1 crore to Santoshi for a film back in 2015. The director later repaid the loan through 10 cheques of Rs 10 lakh each. However, those bounced in December 2016. Lal then decided to get in touch with Santoshi but all his attempts failed. He then filed a case against him under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Now, the court has sentenced the filmmaker to two years in jail and pay Rs 2 crore to the complainant, double the amount that he owed.

Earlier, the Jamnagar court had directed Santoshi to compensate Lal with Rs 15,000 for every cheque that got bounced, amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh in April last year. However, the filmmaker declined the court summons but later had to appear when a bailable warrant was issued against him.

Meanwhile, Santoshi is all set to direct “Lahore 1947”, a highly-anticipated film featuring Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta and Sunny Deol. The director also announced that AR Rahman and Javed Akhtar will be a part of the film.

“It’s a reunion with the most talented people. I worked with Aamir in Andaz Apna Apna and this time he is collaborating as a producer. On the other hand, with Sunny Deol, we made the most loved films like Ghayal, Damini, and Ghatak,” Santoshi told The Indian Express.

Rajkumar Santoshi is known for films such as “Andaz Apna Apna”, “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani” and “Khakee”, among others.