Bombay HC grants bail to film producer Mehmood Usman Ali in cheating case

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The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to film producer Mehmood Usman Ali in a cheating case. Ali was arrested by Amboli Police in January this year in a cheating case where he was booked along with celebrity Physiotherapist Dr Ali Irani for allegedly assuring producer Vijay Mulchandani of Rs 1.25 crore for his movie rights but did not hand over the money and instead sold the rights to Rajshri Productions for Rs 15 lakh, the complainant claimed.

The court granted bail to Ali after ten months after he gave an undertaking before the court that he handing over and release all rights of his company Don Infotainment in respect of the movie Yaram which was agreed to be sold to his company by Mulchandani as per agreement. "In compliance with the assurance given before this Hon'ble Court I have handed over the original Hard Disk and copy of the Script of the said movie to the First Informant before this Hon'ble Court on 18.10.2022 on the date of hearing. I undertake to this Hon'ble Court to handover the Poster, Trailer and all the material related to the said movie to the First Informant (Mulchandani) within 10 days from the date hereof," the undertaking given by Ali reads.

Mulchandani in the complaint said that he produced a film named #Yaram, which was released in October 2019. He said he wanted the movie on OTT platforms as well and hence met Dr Irani and Ali, owner of Don Infotainment. A deal was worked out between the two parties and Don had allegedly offered Rs 1.25 crore for the rights to the movie. Accordingly, the movie was released on the OTT platform in March 2020.

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"I say that I have no claim in respect of the said movie "#YAARAM" and shall not claim any right in future. I also undertake to this Hon'ble Court that pursuant to my release from jail in the present case I shall co-operate with the first informant and execute all the documentation if any, required by the First Informant for the effective release of all the rights in the movie # YAARAM in favour of the First Informant". The undertaking given by Ali reads further

"Since the complainant has expressed his inclination to believe the applicant (Ali) in the wake of the undertaking given by him to this Court in form of an affidavit sworn on 17/10/2022, I do not think that further incarceration of the applicant is necessary."

"My client Mehmood was always willing to have cordial relations with the first informant Vijay Mulchandani and get the dispute sorted amicably but unfortunately the criminal law was set into motion which resulted in enmity and monetary loss of both the parties, eventually making the progress of movie YAARAM stall, my other client who is a reputed doctor had already granted anticipatory bail by the sessions court. Nonetheless, in the interest of the good future of the movie, my client has returned the same to the first informant and accordingly the court was pleased to release him on bail, no other amount as alleged in the FIR is paid to the first informant," said Adv Ali Kashif Khan, representing Ali.