Supreme Court Grants Bail to Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt in Multi-Crore Cheating Case

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt in a multi-crore rupee cheating case stemming from a complaint in Rajasthan. The decision, made by a bench including Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, also regularized interim bail for Bhatt's wife, Shwetambari.

The Bhatts were previously denied bail by the Rajasthan High Court and were arrested in Mumbai, then brought to Udaipur in December. The top court has encouraged the parties to pursue mediation for dispute resolution. The case centers around accusations made by Ajay Murdia, founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre, who claims he was fraudulently induced to invest over Rs 30 crore in a film biopic.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing the Bhatts, argued that the film contract entailed four movies, with significant progress made on three. Murdia accuses the Bhatts of misappropriating funds through fake billing practices. Alongside Vikram Bhatt and his wife, others arrested include Udaipur-based Dinesh Kataria and Bhatt's manager, Mehboob Ansari.