New Delhi: Filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi has been sentenced to two years in jail and fined ₹ 2 crore by a local court in Gujarat’s Jamnagar over bounced cheques. The court has granted the filmmaker a 30-day stay to appeal the order. The complainant, industrialist and shipping magnate Ashok Lal, had reportedly given ₹ 1 crore as a loan to Santoshi for a film project. The filmmaker wrote him 10 cheques of ₹ 10 lakh each to repay the amount, Lal said in his complaint.
However, when he went to encash the cheques, they bounced due to a lack of funds, Lal claimed. Lal said he first tried to get in touch with the filmmaker when the cheques bounced. However, all his attempts failed following which he filed a lawsuit under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
Now, the court has sentenced the filmmaker to two years in jail and ordered him to pay ₹ 2 crore to Lal – double the amount he owes the businessman. Santoshi is known for super-hit films like ‘Ghayal’, ‘Ghatak’, and ‘Damini’. His upcoming film “Lahore 1947” is being produced by Aamir Khan Productions and stars Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta in the lead roles.
