Court refuses to suspend Actor Jayaprada’s sentence

Actor Jayaprada and other partners of the now defunct Jayaprada Cine Theatre in Chennai suffered a significant blow with the Madras High Court dismissing their plea to suspend the six-month simple imprisonment imposed on them by a Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai on Aug. 10, 2023, for having not paid Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) dues.

Justice G. Jayachandran held that the track record of the case justifies the dismissal of the present petitions filed by the convicts challenging the refusal of the Principal Sessions Court to suspend the sentence. He pointed out that the partners had successfully prolonged the issue for 18 years by filing petitions after petitions to delay the payment of statutory dues.

Further, he took serious note of the convicts not having appeared before the Magistrate even on the day of pronouncement of judgment, forcing the judicial officer to issue nonbailable arrest warrants against them. They had neither appeared before the principal sessions court while seeking suspension of sentence in September this year, he pointed out.

The judge clarified that the convicts would be entitled to suspension of sentence/bail if they surrendered before the sessions court and deposited 2 million rupees jointly/severally within 15 days.

“The lower appellate court shall not entertain petition for bail/suspension of sentence unless the pre-condition of deposit is complied with and the accused/petitioner appears physically,” he added.

The ESIC had lodged five different complaints against the actor and other partners of the cinema theatre before the second Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai in 2005