The Supreme Court of India, on December 14, temporarily suspended the six-month imprisonment awarded to actress and former Member of Parliament, Jayaprada. The case revolves around allegations of non-payment of Employee State Insurance (ESI) contributions by Jayaprada Cinema, where Jaya Prada holds a partnership. The decision came after the petitioners deposited the required contribution amount as per the Trial Court's judgments.

The suspension of the sentence was announced by a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal. The justices ordered that since the petitioners had complied with the impugned judgments of the Trial Court by depositing Rs. 9,80,000, the substantive sentence would remain suspended.

Senior Advocate Sonia Mathur, representing Jaya Prada, argued before the Court that the petitioners had deposited the specified amount. The bench, in response, expressed a prima facie view that the Sessions Court might not have appropriately invoked sub-Section (3) of Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The court further issued a notice in the criminal appeal, making it returnable on February 19, 2024. Advocates Praveen Arya, Nachiketa Vajpayee, and Divyangna Malik, also representing Jayaprada, contended that the conviction order from the Trial Court in Chennai suffered from patent infirmities.

They argued that her six-month sentence should be suspended during the pendency of her appeal against the conviction, currently awaiting judgment before the Sessions Judge in Chennai.

Case: M/S JAYAPRADHA CINE THEATRE & ANR. ETC. vs EMPLOYEES STATE INSURANCE CORPORATION

Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 16102-16111/2023.

Click to read/download Order.