Ranchi: A Ranchi court on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 500 on Bollywood actor Ameesha Patel after her counsel did not appear to cross-examine a prosecution witness in the cheque bounce case filed against her.
The case against Patel dates back to 2018 when a Jharkhand-based film producer, Ajay Kumar Singh, filed a case after a cheque from the actor bounced. In the cheque bounce case, on behalf of the petitioner Ajay Kumar Singh, his company's manager gave his first testimony in Judicial Magistrate DN Shukla's Court.
In the statement, he said earlier a discussion took place with a close friend of the actor about investing money in Ajay Kumar Singh's film at Harmu Maidan in his presence. After the conversation, the actor called Ajay Singh for a meeting at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ranchi. During that time, a discussion about the film Desi Magic took place. It was decided that if Ajay Singh invests money, he will get a share in the profit.
While speaking to ETV Bharat, Ajay Singh's advocate said that Singh had transferred Rs 2.5 crore to Ameesha's account. But when the matter did not progress further even after six months, Ajay started demanding the return of the money. Later, Ameesha called Ajay to Mumbai and gave him two checks of Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 50 lakh, but both checks bounced due to which Ajay took legal recourse.
Also read: Ameesha Patel to appear in Ranchi court today regarding her 2018 fraud case
Advocate Vijay Laxmi Srivastava said after a long-running hearing in this case, the court issued a warrant against the actor recently. Then Ameesha physically appeared in court and took bail. During that time, the court also gave him the option of mediation but he expressed his desire to frame the charge. On the same basis, the testimony was to be held on July 26.
During the testimony, Ameesha's lawyer Jayprakash told the court that he needed some certified copies. Therefore, the next date of the hearing should be fixed. Since the witnesses had arrived on behalf of Ajay Singh, the court fixed August 7 for cross-examination of the witnesses while imposing a fine of Rs 500 on Ameesha. On behalf of Ajay Singh, it has also been alleged that Ameesha Patel and her partner had threatened him on the phone for demanding money.
