In a shocking development, veteran actor Mohan Babu has been awarded one-year jail term in cheque bounce case. The judge V Raghunath Rao, who pronounced the verdict also directed Mohan Babu to pay Rs 40.75 lakhs along with interest to director Y V S Chowdary, who had filed the case against him. It further directed Mohan Babu’s production house Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures to pay a fine of Rs 10,000.
Reportedly, Mohan Babu in an agreement with the filmmaker of Rs 1.55 crore payment for directing the film “Saleem”. “He had paid Rs 1.10 crore in different installments. On December 9, before the release of the film, he issued a cheque for Rs 40.75 lakhs of Andhra Bank, Jubilee Hills’ branch after deducting the tax. However, with the film not doing well in theatres, Mohan Babu issued a stop payment instruction to the bank,” said Chowdary’s counsel K Satya Sai Baba.
However, Mohan Babu clarifying his stand said, “Since Saleem did not do well at the box office, we dropped the idea of making another film. We asked Chowdary not to deposit the cheque in the bank, but he had already done so and when it bounced he started blaming us,”
