Court issues NBW against Ram Gopal Varma in cheque bounce case
Mumbai (PTI): A sessions court here has issued a non-bailable warrant against filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma after rejecting his plea for suspension of jail sentence in a cheque bounce case.
Earlier, on January 21, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) in Andheri, Y P Pujari, convicted Varma for the offence punishable under provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The magistrate had sentenced the filmmaker to three-month jail term and directed him to pay Rs 3,72,219 to the complainant within three months.
The filmmaker subsequently filed an appeal before the sessions court, seeking suspension of the sentence. Additional Sessions Judge A A Kulkarni, however, rejected his plea on March 4 and issued NBW against the filmmaker as he did not appear before the court and rejected his plea for suspension of the jail sentence. he matter has been adjourned to July 28 for execution of the warrant. The judge said the accused is at the liberty to file for bail after appearing before the court.
A company in 2018 lodged a cheque bounce complaint against Varma's firm.
Advocates Rajesh Kumar Patel, appearing for the complainant's company, had filed an affidavit before the magistrate court that the company was engaged in the business of providing hard disks for the last several years. As per the request of the accused, it had provided hard disks between February 2018 and March 2018, based on which various tax invoices amounting to Rs 2,38,220 were raised, the affidavit said.
The accused issued a cheque on June 1, 2018 to the complainant, which was dishonoured for insufficient funds, it said. After this fact was brought to the notice of Varma's firm, a second cheque of the same amount was issued, which too was dishonoured due to "payment stopped by drawer". The complainant was left with no option to avail legal remedy, the affidavit had added.
Varma is known for making films like "Satya", "Rangeela", "Company" and "Sarkar", among others.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
