The Delhi High Court refused to cancel Rajpal Yadav’s sentence suspension, saying there is no risk of him absconding. The Court stressed that he remains an “ordinary litigant” and will decide the case finally on April 1.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday made it clear that it will not send Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav back to jail at this stage in a cheque bounce case. The Court refused to cancel its earlier interim order that had suspended his sentence and allowed him to come out of jail.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma was hearing an application filed by the complainant, who had requested the Court to vacate the suspension of Yadav’s sentence. However, the judge said there was no valid reason to do so at this point.
During the hearing, the complainant’s lawyer pointed out that their application to cancel the suspension was still pending. In response, the Court firmly stated,
“I do not find any reason. He is not running away. He is still here. He is not running away. Kahin nahi jaa rahe (He is not going anywhere),”
showing that there was no urgency or risk involved in continuing the suspension.
It is important to note that on February 16, the High Court had passed an interim order suspending Yadav’s sentence. This order had enabled him to walk out of jail after he had been in custody since February 5.
During the latest hearing, Rajpal Yadav appeared before the Court in person and made submissions. The complainant’s counsel alleged that the actor was trying to turn the matter into a media trial and argued that either Yadav or his lawyer should present arguments, not both.
However, Justice Sharma dismissed concerns about media influence and clarified that such factors do not affect the Court’s decision-making. She said,
“Media trial ka kya hai wo to har ek cheez ka hota rehta hai. Mujhe koi fark nahi padta. Main media dekhti hi nhi hu…Media me kya hota hai meri kaan, aankhein sab band hoti hai. Mere liye he is an ordinary litigant, you are an ordinary litigant. (What about media trials? That happens with everything. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t watch the media at all…Whatever happens in the media, my ears and eyes are closed. For me, he [Yadav] is an ordinary litigant. You are an ordinary litigant,”
The judge further emphasized that the Court was not giving any special treatment to Yadav just because he is a public figure.
She clearly stated,
“Just because he is an actor main inko nahi sun rahi hu. Main to koi bhi litigant aate hain unko bhi sunti hu. Aap inko importance de rahe ho. Aur ek baat aur hai ki us litigant ne nahi bola ki main so and so hu (I am not listening to him just because he is an actor. I listen to every litigant. You’re giving him importance. And one more thing, that litigant didn’t say that I’m so and so),”
The Court has now listed the matter for April 1 and said it will try to decide the case finally on that date. At the same time, the judge also gave Yadav an opportunity to settle the dispute by paying the pending amount, if he wishes to resolve the matter amicably.
The case dates back to May 2024, when a sessions court had convicted Rajpal Yadav and sentenced him to six months in jail in a cheque bounce case. Later, the High Court suspended his sentence after his lawyer assured the Court that he was ready to settle the matter with the production company to whom he owed money.
However, Yadav failed to fulfill this commitment. On February 2, the High Court rejected his explanation that the payment could not be made due to an inadvertent error in the demand draft. The Court noted that he had not taken any steps to correct the mistake.
Earlier, Yadav had requested permission to pay the total dues of ₹2.5 crore in two instalments — ₹40 lakh by December 16, 2025 and the remaining ₹2.1 crore by January 15, 2026. But the Court observed that he failed to make these payments as promised.
As a result, the Court directed him on February 2 to surrender before the jail authorities within two days. His later request on February 4 for more time was also rejected, leaving him with no option but to surrender on February 5.
Now, with the sentence temporarily suspended, the High Court has indicated that it is willing to give Yadav one more chance to either argue his case or settle the dispute before passing a final decision.
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