A fast track court in Chennai has issued bailable warrants to actor-politician Sarathkumar and actor Radhika Sarathkumar in connection with seven cheque bounce cases.
The cases were filed against Radhika, Sarathkumar and producer Listin Stephen, who are partners in Magic Frames film production company, for allegedly not returning a borrowed amount of Rs 1.5 crores from Radiance Media, a film financing company.
The three of them were absent when the case came up for hearing on June 28, and petitions were filed under Section 317 of the CrPC seeking to dispense the cases with their personal appearance. The judge dismissed their petitions and issued bailable warrants against them. The case was posted for further hearing on July 12.
According to various reports, Abdukumar, the counsel for the complainant said that the three of them had borrowed Rs 1.5 crores from Radiance Media and Sarathkumar later issued two cheques returning the amount. Following this, he also borrowed a loan of Rs 50 lakhs and presented five cheques with Rs 10 lakhs each. However, the cheques bounced when presented for payment, so Radiance Media decided to file seven cases against them.
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Sarathkumar and Radhika Sarathkumar had filed petitions challenging the criminal proceedings in the Madras High Court. The case was heard by Justice GK Illanthiraiyan on May 8, who director the fast track court to quash the criminal proceedings in five cases against Radhika and Stephen, but dismissed their petition to quash the remaining two cases.
The Madras High Court dismissed Sarathkumar’s petition. Seven cases are now pending against him, and two against Radhika and Stephen.
The judge has directed the fast track court in Saidapet to complete the trial within six months.
Sarathkumar is an actor-turned-politician and founded the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi in 2007. He presided over the Nadigar Sangam from 2006 to 2015 for three consecutive terms. A case against him is also pending in the Madras High Court for alleged Nadigar Sangam land misappropriation.