Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt And His Wife In Fraud Case

The Supreme Court of India has granted interim bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife, Shwetambari Bhatt, following their appeal against a Rajasthan High Court order that previously denied them relief.

The case stems from an FIR registered at Bhupalpura Police Station in Udaipur, where the complainant, Dr Ajay Murdia, alleged that the couple orchestrated approx.  ₹30 crore fraud related to a four-film production agreement involving Indira Entertainment LLP.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered, "Issue Notice. The petitioners be released on interim bail forthwith, subject to furnishing bail bonds. List on next Thursday."

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Petitioners.

"He cannot put the director, his wife, everybody in jail... My Lords, I do not know what is going on", Rohatgi submitted.

The advocate for the Complainant said, "It is not so simple. It is a 30 crore fraud!"

CJI Surya Kant remarked, "Unfortunately, they have not sought quashing of the FIR...How Rajasthan has been chosen? It is very unfortunate." 

The Court also asked parties to implead the owner of Indira Entertainment LLP (complainant/Dr. Ajay Murdia) as a Respondent. 

Accordingly, the Court listed the matter on February 19, 2026.

Background

Two bail applications under Section 483 of the B.N.S.S. (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) were filed on behalf of the Petitioners herein before the High Court against the orders passed by the Lower Court, seeking regular bail in connection with First Information Report (FIR) No. 213/2025, Police Station Bhupalpura, District Udaipur, for offences under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340(2), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

It was the case of complainant Dr Ajay Murdia that, through Dinesh Kataria, a resident of Udaipur, an agreement was made with Mumbai film producer Vikram Bhatt for the production of four films for 47 crore rupees.

Subsequently, Indira Entertainment LLP was formed, and the complainant was made to pay over 42.70 crore rupees in various stages in the name of vendors. However, in reality, only one film was released, the second was left incomplete, the third was only about 25% completed, and shooting for the fourth has not even started to date.

Despite this, it was alleged that Vikram Bhatt and Shwetambari Bhatt pressured the complainant, demanding 8.91 crore rupees and, later, approximately another 11 crore rupees. When the money was not received, shooting was stopped, and they explicitly refused to return all assets related to the films, such as raw footage, hard disks, music master files, costumes, scripts, and IPR. Additionally, pressure was exerted on the complainant through the Federation by creating fake vendor claims worth 2.46 crore rupees.

Before the High Court, Senior Advocate VR Bajwa and Advocate Manvendra S Bhati, on behalf of Vikram P. Bhatt and Shwetambari V. Bhatt, submitted that they were falsely implicated and had been in custody since December 7, 2025. It was submitted that two films have been prepared, and the work on the remaining two is incomplete, which was stopped based on the complainant's instructions. It was added that the entire scam was committed by the complainant's accountant, Rakesh Panigrahi, for which FIR No. 803/2025 has been registered by the applicants at Versova Police Station, Mumbai. To escape this, the complainant colluded to file this false case.

The High Court, considering the nature of the evidence, the factual situation, and other circumstances, and without expressing any final opinion on the merits of the case, refused to grant bail to the Petitioners herein.

Cause Title: Shwetambari Bhatt and Anr. v. State of Rajasthan [SLP(Crl) 2647/2026]