Mangaluru: A Mangaluru court has sentenced actress Padmaja Rao to three months simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 40.20 lakh in a four-year-old case of cheque bounce of Rs 40 lakh. The eighth court of judicial magistrate first class (eighth JMFC court) pronounced this verdict on Tuesday while concluding the hearing in the case.
The petition alleged that actress Padmaja Rao had taken a loan of Rs 40 lakh from Veerendra Shetty, owner of ‘Veeru Talkies’ and resident of Mangaluru, and had given a cheque to Shetty as a guarantee. It said that when the money was not returned, when Shetty deposited the cheque in the bank for payment on June 17, 2020, it was found that the actress did not have sufficient funds in her account, due to which the cheque bounced.
Shetty gave the actress a notice on June 30, 2020 to repay the loan within 15 days but there was no response after which she approached the court. During the hearing, Padmaja argued that she had neither taken any loan nor given any cheque to Shetty.
In the court, the actress’s lawyer claimed that someone had stolen her cheque from her house, however she could not present any evidence in the court to prove her claims. Finally, after completing the hearing, the court sentenced the actress to three months’ imprisonment and also ordered her to pay a fine of Rs 40.20 lakh.