Cheque Bounce Case: Actress Padmaja Rao sentenced to three months in prison

Team Udayavani, Aug 27, 2024, 1:34 PM IST

In connection with a cheque bounce case, the 8th JMFC Court in Mangaluru has sentenced actress Padmaja Rao to three months of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs40.20 lakh.

Padmaja Rao had reportedly taken a loan of Rs 40 lakh and issued a cheque from her ICICI Bank account at the Banashankari branch in Bengaluru as security on June 17, 2020. When the cheque was presented for clearance, it bounced due to insufficient funds in her account. Despite being served a notice on June 30, 2020, to repay the amount within 15 days, she failed to do so, prompting Veerendra Shetty, owner of “Veeru Talkies” and a resident of Mary Hill, Mangaluru, to file a complaint in court.

Padmaja Rao appeared in court after being summoned and denied taking any loan from the complainant or issuing him a cheque. Her lawyer argued that the charges were a counter-complaint following a police complaint Rao had filed on March 23, 2020, in Bengaluru’s JP Nagar Police Station against Veerendra Shetty for allegedly defrauding her of Rs 52.70 lakh. They claimed the cheque was stolen from her house, and the signature was forged. However, they failed to provide sufficient evidence to support these claims.

Judge Fawaz P.A. of the 8th JMFC Court ordered Padmaja Rao to pay a fine of ₹40.20 lakh, of which ₹40.17 lakh is to be given to the complainant, with the remaining ₹3,000 paid to the government.a