New Delhi, Feb 19: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted regular bail to Bollywood filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari in connection with an alleged Rs 30 crore fraud case.
The couple was arrested at their Mumbai residence on December 7, 2025, and brought to Rajasthan’s Udaipur after a complaint was filed against them by a Udaipur-based doctor, alleging that he had been defrauded of crores by the director on the pretext of making a film.
Observing that the case essentially stemmed from a commercial transaction between the parties, a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) set aside the Rajasthan High Court’s January 31 order, which had rejected the couple’s bail pleas.
The Bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, expressed hope that both sides would make genuine efforts towards an amicable settlement and directed them to appear before the Supreme Court Mediation Centre to explore resolution of the payment dispute.
“The regular bail has been granted with the expectation that the appellants will try and make efforts for the amicable resolution of the dispute,” the apex court said. Last week, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Shwetambari Bhatt and directed that she be released forthwith, subject to her furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Udaipur.
The interim relief was granted by the CJI Kant-led Bench while issuing notice on the special leave petition (SLP) challenging the Rajasthan High Court’s refusal to grant bail. Earlier, the Rajasthan High Court had declined bail to Vikram Bhatt, his wife and another accused, observing that release at that stage would be inappropriate as the investigation was still underway.
An FIR was registered on November 17 at Bhupalpura police station, Udaipur, against Vikram Bhatt and eight others by Dr Ajay Murdia, owner of the Indira Group and Indira IVF. The complainant alleged that the director and his associates collected funds under the pretext of producing a biopic based on his wife.
Dr Murdia claimed he was first introduced to the project by Dinesh Kataria and later met Vikram Bhatt at Vrindavan Studio, Mumbai. Bhatt allegedly assured him that an investment of Rs 7 crore could generate four films with a projected return of Rs 100-200 crore.
Following this, multiple transfers were made into accounts of various individuals associated with Bhatt’s team, amounting to Rs 2,45,61,400. Additionally, Indira Entertainment allegedly paid Rs 42,70,82,232 — despite a total agreed production cost of Rs 47 crore. According to the complaint, only two films were completed and released.
The third film, ‘Vishwa Virat’, is reportedly only 25 per cent completed, while the fourth, ‘Maharana-Ran’, has not yet begun. Bhatt is accused of misappropriating Rs 25 crore meant for the fourth film. Apart from Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari Bhatt, the FIR names Krishna Bhatt, Dinesh Kataria, Mehboob Ansari, Mudit Buttan, Gangeshwar Lal Srivastava, and Ashok Dubey as accused.
IANS
