The Supreme Court granted on Friday interim bail to Shwetambari Bhatt, the wife of filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, in connection with a Rs 44-crore fraud case, calling her arrest "unfortunate" and raising questions over the way the criminal process was used in the matter.
Vikram Bhatt, who was arrested along with his wife by the Rajasthan Police in December, will have his bail plea heard separately next week.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice on the couple's petition challenging the Rajasthan High Court order that had denied them bail. The court also directed that Shwetambari Bhatt be released on interim bail immediately.
Appearing for the couple, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the Rajasthan Police had travelled to Mumbai to arrest them from their residence. He argued that the case arose out of a business arrangement related to film production that did not succeed commercially and should not have been treated as a criminal offence. According to him, the complainant had invested in film projects that failed at the box office and the couple could not be jailed for financial losses linked to those ventures.
The bench, during the hearing, questioned why criminal proceedings were being invoked for what appeared to be the recovery of money. It also expressed concern over the choice of jurisdiction, describing the situation as "very unfortunate". The Chief Justice noted that the petitioners had not sought quashing of the FIR and made pointed remarks while hearing arguments from both sides.
Counsel for the complainant, Ajay Murdia, the owner of Indira IVF and former Indira Entertainment LLP, opposed the bail, stating that the case involved alleged cheating of Rs 44 crore. According to the complaint, Murdia had invested more than Rs 30 crore in film projects, including a proposed biopic on his late wife, after being promised substantial returns that never materialised.
The Supreme Court has now made Murdia a party to the proceedings and scheduled the next hearing for Wednesday, when Vikram Bhatt's bail plea will be taken up.
The outcome of the upcoming hearing could set an important precedent for how similar investment disputes in the film business are handled in the future.
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