The Mumbai court convicted and sentenced Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma to three months in jail for a cheque bouncing case. The verdict was scheduled for Tuesday, but Varma was absent from court, leading the magistrate to issue a non-bailable warrant for his arrest. Varma was found guilty of an offense under the Negotiable Instruments Act, which penalizes the dishonor of a cheque due to insufficient funds or exceeding the arranged payment amount. The court also ordered Varma to pay a compensation of Rs 3.72 lakh to the complainant within three months or face an additional three months in jail. The cheque bounce case was filed against Varma’s company by a firm named Shree through Maheshchandra Mishra in 2018.

The Covid-19 pandemic forced Varma to sell his office. In June 2022, the court released Varma on bail after he executed a personal recognizance bond and paid a cash security of Rs 5,000. When sentencing him on Tuesday, the magistrate YP Pujari stated that Varma could not receive a sentence reduction under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, as he had not spent any time in custody during the trial. The detailed court judgment with observations is still pending for release.