Actress Jayaprada has taken her case to the Madras High Court, contesting a Magistrate court's decision to sentence her to six months in prison for her failure to make payments to the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for the employees who worked at a now-closed cinema theater that she owned.

In August of this year, a ruling was issued by a Metropolitan Magistrate Court, sentencing her to six months of simple imprisonment. This verdict was a result of her failure to adhere to the legal obligation of making contributions to the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) for the employees who were employed at a cinema theater she once owned, which is now no longer in operation.

Last Friday, Justice G Jayachandran took action on Jayaprada's petition, issuing a notice, and allowed the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) a one-week period to submit a counter affidavit in response to the actor's plea.

Furthermore, the judge also requested Jayaprada's legal counsel to provide clarification on whether the outstanding amount of ₹37.68 lakh can be settled before the given deadline.

On August 10 of this year, the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Chennai sentenced Jayaprada and her co-accused in the case. This action was taken after the court acknowledged a complaint filed by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

According to the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), the management of the cinema theater that was previously owned by Jayaprada had been deducting the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) contributions from the workers' earnings but had failed to remit these funds to the State Insurance Corporation as required by law.

Jayaprada, along with her brothers Ramkumar and Raj Babu, were partners in Jayaprada Cinema, which ceased operations approximately 10 years ago.

Under Section 40 of the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Act, the principal employer is obligated to make payments for both the employer's share and the employees' share of contributions. The principal employer is allowed to deduct the employees' portion of the contribution from their wages and recover it accordingly. This ensures that both the employer and employees fulfill their respective financial responsibilities under the ESI Act.