Bombay High Court Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Cheating Actor Vivek Oberoi

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to actor Vivek Oberoi's business partner Sanjay Saha arrested in a Rs. 1.55 crore cheating case filed by Oberoi for allegedly siphoning off the funds of their film production firm.

Justice NJ Jamadar held that prima facie, clauses of the partnership agreement supported Saha's contention that the money was used for purposes expressly authorised under the agreement.

“Mr. Ponda, invited the attention of the Court to the clauses in the LLP (Exh.C) especially Clauses 38 (m) and 44 which provide for incurring of expenses for the welfare of the partners and payment of remuneration to the partners. Prima facie, the aforesaid clauses in the partnership agreement support the cause of the submission sought to be advanced on behalf of the applicant”, the court observed.

The court said that the existence of fraudulent or dishonest intention since the inception of the transaction would have to be established at an appropriate stage in the proceedings before the learned Magistrate.

“Mere failure to perform the contract by itself does not amount to cheating. Likewise, the same act or omission may not constitute an offence of cheating and criminal breach of trust, simultaneously”, the court added.

Saha, along with two co-accused Nandita Saha and Radhika Nanda, was booked by the MIDC police under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant or agent) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.

The complainant Deven Bafna is Oberoi's chartered accountant and a partner of Oberoi Mega Entertainment LLP (OMEL), which had entered into a partnership agreement with Saha and the co-accused to form Anandita Entertainment LLP for producing films. Bafna alleged that Saha and the co-accused had siphoned off Rs 1.55 crore from the account of Anandita Entertainment LLP for various purposes unrelated to the business of the firm.

Saha was arrested on October 1, 2023. Post completion of the investigation, the chargesheet was lodged on November 28, 2023. Hence he approached the HC for bail.

Senior Advocate Abad Ponda for Saha argued that the case was based on a partnership dispute and not a criminal offence. He said that the expenses incurred by Saha and the co-accused were authorized under the partnership agreement and that the real bone of contention was the release of a film 'Haddi' on an OTT platform, which OMEL had challenged in an arbitration petition.

The court noted that Saha and the co-accused had used the money to buy a policy on the life of the co-accused partner, Radhika, pay salary to her and also towards travelling expenses, purchase of gold and payment to the staffs etc.

The court said that the matter had to be appraised through the prism of the partnership dispute that appeared to be triggered by the release of the film 'Haddi' on the OTT platform. The court opined that prima facie, the clauses in the partnership agreement support Ponda's submission.

The court further noted that the investigation was practically complete, and the offences revolved around documents. The court opined that Saha appears to have roots in society and the possibility of tampering with evidence and fleeing away from justice is remote.

The court granted bail on a PR bond of Rs 30,000 with one or two sureties of the same amount.

Senior Advocate Abad Ponda along with Advocates Abhishek Yende, Vishal Dhasade and Surbhi Agarwal represented Saha.

APP SR Agarkar represented the for State.

Advocates Pratik Deore, Dinesh Kadam and Amar Thakur represented complainant Deven Bafna.

Case no. – Bail Application No. 4129 0f 2023

Case Title – Sanjay Pran Gopal Saha v. State of Maharashtra and Ors.