Cricketer Uthappa gets relief in cheque bounce case as court proceedings stayed temporarily
Mumbai, Oct 18: A Mumbai sessions court has temporarily stayed a magistrate court's proceedings against former India cricketer Robin Uthappa in a 2019 cheque bounce case, noting it appears he was not in-charge of day-to-day affairs of a company linked to the matter.
In 2019, a private firm, Senior Marketing Pvt Ltd, had filed a complaint before a magistrate court in Mumbai against another company, Centaurus Lifestyle, and its directors, including Uthappa, for issuing a posted dated cheque, which was dishonoured due to "insufficient balance".
Following this, the trial court initiated proceedings against Centaurus Lifestyle and its directors.
The additional sessions judge, in an order on Thursday, noted that prima facie it appears the applicant (Uthappa) was not in charge of day-to-day affairs of the accused company (Centaurus Lifestyle) when the disputed cheque was dishonoured.
The judge then stayed the trial court's proceedings against the 38-year-old cricketer until January 4, 2025, as his plea challenging the magistrate's order was yet to be heard.
The former India batter, in his revision plea filed before the sessions court, noted that the magistrate, in June 2019, had issued summonses to all the accused, but no one appeared on the given date.
Later, in January 2020, the magistrate issued a bailable warrant against the accused in the cheque bounce case, including the cricketer. Between 2021 and 2023, a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against them. Even then none of the accused appeared before the magistrate, so the lower court issued a proclamation order against them in early 2024.
Uthappa, in the revision plea filed through advocate Siddhesh Borkar, claimed he came to know about the case, summons and NBW only when he was called by the Indiranagar Police Station, Bengaluru, in April 2024, following the issuance of the proclamation order.
The cricketer's plea said Centaurus Lifestyle had signed an agreement with the complaint firm (Senior Marketing) for distribution and sale of their merchandise in Mumbai and nearby areas.
However, owing to some conflicts, the agreement was broken. The lifestyle company then issued a posted dated cheque of Rs 22,22,729 drawn on Federal Bank to the marketing firm. The cheque, however, was dishonoured with the remark "insufficient balance", it said.
The cricketer asserted he was merely a "non-active" director of Centaurus Lifestyle on the account of being an investor in the company.
Uthappa told the sessions court he had no role in either business transaction, administration or day-to -day affairs of the lifestyle company.
The cricketer claimed the magistrate's order issuing summons was "illegal, improper and suffers from grave infinity".
"The trial court has failed to consider various material facts pertaining to the instant case and has passed the impugned order in a mechanical manner without proper application of judicious mind," the revision plea argued.
The sessions judge, considering the cricketer's submission, has temporarily stayed the proceedings against him in the magistrate court.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
