Relief for Lingusamy as HC withholds jail sentence in cheque bounce case

CHENNAI: In a major relief, the Madras High Court on Monday withheld the jail sentence imposed on filmmaker N Lingusamy in a cheque bounce case.

When an appeal plea came up for hearing before Justice V Sivagnanam of the Madras High Court, the counsel representing N Lingusamy submitted that 20 per cent of the cheque amount has already been deposited in Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Saidapet and now the appellant will deposit another 20 per cent amount in the same court.

Accepting this argument, the court withheld the six month jail sentence imposed on N Lingusamy and directed him to deposit the cheque amount within six weeks.

On August 22, 2022, the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Saidapet sentenced director Lingusamy to six months in jail in the cheque bounce case of PVP Capitals in connection with non-repayment of the loan received for the film 'Enni Ezhu Naal'.

After the 2010 blockbuster 'Paiyaa' with Karthi, director Lingusamy was supposed to unite with the actor for 'Enni Ezhu Naal' in 2014.

Lingusamy's production house Tirupati Brothers received Rs 1.3 crore from PVP Capitals for the production of the film 'Enni Ezhu Naal'.

This loan was not repaid by the director, and PVP Capitals filed a case in the Madras High Court following his denial.

The High Court heard the case and ordered him to repay the loan received from PVP Capitals.

Lingusamy then submitted a cheque for the loan amount. However, it caused a problem for the director and his brothers as the cheque returned due to a low balance in the account.

Later, the Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Saidapet, which heard the case, sentenced Director Lingusamy to 6 months in jail in the check fraud case by August, 2022.

Lingusamy and his brothers then appealed against the verdict in the Madras Principal Sessions Court, but the court upheld the statement. He later he moved the Madras High Court seeking to quash the jail sentence imposed on him.