A Mumbai court has convicted Ram Gopal Varma and sentenced him to three months of imprisonment in a cheque bounce case. The Andheri Magistrate court had scheduled the verdict in the cheque bounce case for Tuesday. It had been hearing the case for the past seven years. The filmmaker was reportedly absent from court when the verdict was announced. 

Thus, the Magistrate ordered the issuance of a standing non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Ram Gopal Varma for his arrest.

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Varma has been convicted under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which penalizes the dishonour of a cheque. This includes cheques that are dishonoured due to insufficient funds or that exceed the amount arranged to be paid.

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The court has also asked Varma to pay compensation of Rs 3.72 lakh to the complainant within three months or serve jailtime for three more months.

What is the case about?

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A company named Shree filed a case of cheque bounce against Varma's film back in 2018. 

Varma, who tasted success with films like Satya, Rangeela, Company, and Sarkar, has failed to deliver box office successes in recent years and has reportedly been in financial doldrums, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he had to sell his office.

In this particular case, in June 2022, Varma was released on bail by the court on executing PR and cash security of Rs 5,000.

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While sentencing him on Tuesday, magistrate YP Pujari said, "No question of set-off under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as the accused has not spent any period in custody during the trial."

The detailed judgment with observations of the court is yet to be made available to the media. 

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Ram Gopal Varma reacts

Reacting to the case, Varma told news agency ANI, "With regard to the news about me and Andheri court, I want to clarify that it is to do with a 7-year-old case of Rs 2.38 lakhs relating to an ex-employee. It is not about settling the meager Rs 2.4 lakhs but is about refusing to be exploited in the attempts to fabricate. That’s all I can say for now as it’s in court," filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma stated.

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