Madras High Court denies suspension of actress politician Jayaprada’s sentence in ESIC case
Madras High Court denies suspension of actress politician Jayaprada’s sentence in ESIC case
In a new development, Justice G. Jayachandran denied petitions filed by her and other partners of Jayaprada Cine theatre in Chennai against the refusal of Principal Sessions Court to suspend the six months simple imprisonment imposed on her by a Magistrate
Actor-turned-politician Jayaprada was sentenced to six months imprisonment by a lower court in Chennai for non-payment of ESIC dues.
Jayaprada and other partners of the now defunct Jayaprada cine theatre in Chennai were in for a major blow on Friday when the Madras High Court denied their plea to suspend the six month simple imprisonment imposed on them by a Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai on August 10, 2023 for having not paid Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) dues.
According to Justice G. Jayachandran the track record of the case amply justifies the dismissal of the present petitions filed by the convicts who challenged the refusal of the Principal Sessions Court to suspend the sentence.
He alleged that the partners had successfully prolonged the issue for 18 long years by filing petitions after petitions to delay the payment of statutory dues.
Further, he took serious note of the convicts for not appearing before the Magistrate even on the day of pronouncement of judgement prompting the judicial officer to issue non bailable arrest warrants against them. They neither appeared before the principal sessions court while seeking suspension of sentence in September this year, he pointed out.
The judge cleared that the convicts would be entitled to suspension of sentence/bail if only they surrender before the sessions court and deposit ₹20 lakh jointly/severally within 15 days.
He went on to add that 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.
Repirtedly, 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 ₹8.17 lakh for the period between November 1, 1991 and September 30, 2022 and three other complaints were related to non-payment of ₹1.58 lakh for different periods between 2002 and 2004.
The fifth complaint related to non-submission of the return of contributions, for the period ending September 2003.
In her defence, the actress informed the Magistrate that the partnership firm 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.
News Edit K.V.Raman
