SC grants actor Jayapradha exemption from surrendering within time in ESIC case

The Supreme Court has granted actor and former Lok Sabha MP Jayapradha exemption from surrendering within time in a case in which she was awarded six-month simple imprisonment for not having paid Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) dues in over 18 years for a cinema theatre owned by her.

A single judge bench of Justice SVN Bhatti, in chamber proceedings, also asked the actor and other co-accused in the case to approach the trial court for cancellation of the non-bailable warrants issued against them.

“Application seeking exemption from surrendering within time is allowed. Senior counsel for the petitioners states that the trial court has issued non-bailable warrants (NBW) against the petitioners before filing special leave petition and NBW is pending.

“Hence she seeks liberty to the petitioners to file an application, in accordance with law for cancellation of pending NBW issued against the petitioners. The remedies available to the petitioners in this behalf are left open for consideration by the jurisdictional court,” the bench said.

The high court had earlier dismissed the petitions that challenged an order of the principal sessions judge who refused to suspend the sentence imposed by a trial court on the actor and her partners who owned the now defunct Jayapradha Cinema Theatre.

Jayapradha, a partner of Jayaprada Cinema, was sentenced to six-month imprisonment by a Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in Egmore.

The verdict was delivered on a petition by the workers of the theatre who complained that the actor had not paid their ESI contribution. The workers of the theatre, which has been closed for the last 10 years, said the management was deducting their ESI contribution but not depositing the money to the state insurance corporation.