Make a good film, repay your debts: Supreme Court to Rajpal Yadav

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NEW DELHI: Punishment and compassion may not mix in the justice delivery process, but they probably can walk together. Adopting this approach, Supreme Court Wednesday refused to relax the pre-condition of depositing Rs 2 crore for hearing the appeal of comedian Rajpal Yadav challenging his conviction and sentence of three months in a cheque bouncing case but suggested that he make a good film that would enable him to repay debts.A loan of Rs 5 crore he had taken in 2010 for producing the film 'Aata Pata Lapata', which remained on the verge of completion and never released because of litigation, spiralled into a huge sum with interest.A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalaya Bagchi and V Mohana assured senior advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha, who appeared for Muli Projects that had advanced the loan to Yadav, that it would ensure that the loan is repaid.

Yadav was to deposit Rs 2 crore as a pre-condition for hearing of his appeal by Wednesday.Yadav's counsel Vikrant Yadav told the court that he has got a demand draft for Rs 1.15 crore and he has entered into an agreement with one Anand Prakash Yadav, who also was present in the court, to sell off his property. He sought time till Oct 13 to deposit the balance amount of Rs 85 lakh. SC agreed and protected him from surrendering to undergo jail term.The CJI said, "Make a good film and entertain people. You will be able to repay the loans." The apex court posted the case for hearing on Oct 15.