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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298 persons killed in Wayanad landslides: Govt tells Parliament
New Delhi (PTI): A total of 298 people were killed during the landslides that hit Kerala's Wayanad district last year, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that while the Centre does not maintain a central data of deaths/missing persons due to disasters, including landslides, the Kerala government informed it that the total number of deaths due to the landslide in Wayanad was 298.
Out of these, 32 missing persons have been declared as deceased, the minister told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Asked about the compensation provided by the Centre to the state, Rai said that based on a report of the inter-ministerial central team (IMCT), the central government approved an amount of Rs 153.47 crore, subject to the adjustment of 50 per cent of balance available in the state disaster response fund account, for the landslides, flash flood of 2024.
The amount also includes assistance for the air bills for utilising the services of the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters for rescue and relief, as per actual, and actual expenditure for the clearance of debris, he said.
Besides, an amount of Rs 388 crore (Rs 291.20 crore central share plus Rs 96.80 crore state share) has been allocated to the Government of Kerala for the financial year 2024-25 in SDRF, he said.
The instalment of Rs 145.60 crore of the central share was released on July 31, 2024.
The second instalment of Rs 145.60 crore of the central share was also released on October 1, 2024 in advance to the state, the minister said.
He added that the Kerala Accountant General reported a balance of Rs 394.99 crore in its SDRF account as on April 1, 2024.
Thus, "sufficient fund" is available in the SDRF account of the state for relief operations, he said.
Rai said Kerala conducted a Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) estimating a total requirement of Rs 2,219 crore for recovery and reconstruction plan.
The landslides destroyed large tracts of three Wayanad villages--Punchirimattom, Chooralmala and Mundakkai--apart from some in Attamala when the disaster struck on July 30 last year.
