Actor Jayaprada and other partners of the now defunct Jayaprada theatre in Chennai suffered a major blow on Friday, October 20, 2023 with the Madras High Court refusing to set aside their conviction and six months of simple imprisonment imposed by a Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai on August 10, 2023 for having not paid Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) dues.
The convicts would be entitled to interim relief of bail or suspension of sentence if the conviction warrant gets executed or if they surrender on their own and deposit Rs.20 lakh within 15 days. “The lower appellate court shall not entertain petition for bail or suspension of sentence unless the pre-conditon of deposit is complied with and the accused 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. One of those complaints was related to the non-payment of Rs. 8.17 lakh for the period between November 1, 1991 and September 30, 2022 and three other complaints were related to non-payment of Rs.1.58 lakh for different periods between 2002 and 2004.
The fifth complaint was regarding non-submission of the return of contributions, for the period that ended in September 2003. In her defence, the actor told the Magistrate that the partnership firm was wound up in 2008 and that the theatre was non-functional as on date. However, the Magistrate went on to convict her for the offences under the ESIC Act after observing that the crimes had been committed much before 2008.
Passing identical orders on all five complaints lodged by the ESIC, the Magistrate had directed the actor to undergo simple imprisonment for six months besides discharging the entire liability for which the complaints had been made. Since the actor was not present on the day when the judgement was pronounced on August 10, the Magistrate also issued non-bailable arrest warrants to secure her presence and to make her undergo the punishment.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook
