The Bombay High Court on Thursday quashed a non-bailable warrant issued against actor Preity Zinta by the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate court on January 27 for failing to appear before it in a case of cheque bounce.
The case was filed by scriptwriter Abbas Tyrewala, who alleged that a cheque for Rs. 18.9 lakh, which Ms. Zinta gave him as remuneration for writing the script of her film Ishkq in Paris , had bounced.
“It appears that the learned magistrate has taken a pedantic approach by issuing a non-bailable warrant against the present applicant by keeping other applications pending,” Justice Sadhana Jadhav observed while passing the order. She directed the metropolitan magistrate’s court to decide on Ms. Zinta’s application for exemption in three weeks. A few days ago, the High Court refused to quash the case and directed Ms. Zinta to produce the material in the case to the lower court.
After the case was filed, Ms. Zinta submitted an application before the magistrate court, seeking exemption from physical presence and requesting that her advocate be allowed to record the statement on her behalf. After she repeatedly failed to appear in the lower court for the hearing, Mr. Tyrewala pressed for the issuance of a non-bailable warrant. The trial court allowed it, observing that “the accused has intentionally committed breach of order and remained absent.”
The Bombay High Court, however, observed on Thursday that the court issued the warrant without deciding on her exemption application.
