File photo of filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi with Aamir Khan and Sunny Deol. Khan.
Credit: X/@cinemaabhi
Jamnagar: Renowned filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi was granted bail by a court here on Monday in a cheque return case in which he was sentenced to two years in jail last month and ordered to pay Rs 2 crore to the complainant.
Santoshi was sentenced to two years in jail on February 17 by the court of senior civil judge at Jamnagar, which had then allowed his appeal for a 30-day stay on the order so that he could appeal in a higher court.
Santoshi, a director, producer and scriptwriter, is well known for action blockbusters like 'Ghayal' and 'Ghatak', the court drama 'Damini' and the iconic comedy film 'Andaz Apna Apna.'
On Monday, Jamnagar Principal District Judge SK Baxi granted him bail after directing him to deposit 20 percent of the amount in the court. It kept the hearing on his appeal against the lower court's order on April 19 and directed him to not leave India without its permission.
Santoshi appeared before the court when the matter was taken up for hearing.
Ashok Lal, an industrialist, in his complaint, said he had lent Rs 1 crore to Santoshi to produce a film against which the filmmaker gave him 10 cheques of Rs 10 lakh each.
When the 10 cheques returned due to lack of funds in the bank account, Lal had issued him a legal notice under the Negotiable Instruments Act and approached the court in 2017 after Santoshi failed to return the money.
Subsequently, the accused applied to transfer the case filed against him to a Mumbai court, which was challenged by the complainant in the sessions court. The sessions court directed that all cases against Santoshi be heard in the Jamnagar.