The Supreme Court of India has granted regular bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt in connection with an alleged multi-crore cheating case linked to a movie deal. The case relates to a financial dispute over the proposed biopic of the late wife of IVF entrepreneur Ajay Murdia.
The couple had been arrested by the Rajasthan Police in December and were lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail. Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to Shwetambari Bhatt. The latest order sets aside the Rajasthan High Court’s earlier decision that denied bail to the couple.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, observed that the matter appeared to stem mainly from a commercial transaction. While allegations of cheating were mentioned in the FIR, the Court said the dispute could be better resolved through mediation rather than prolonged litigation.
The Court directed both parties to approach the Supreme Court Mediation Centre to explore the possibility of an amicable settlement regarding the financial disagreement. It granted bail with the expectation that sincere efforts would be made to resolve the dispute peacefully.
According to the complaint, Ajay Murdia alleged that Vikram Bhatt and his wife persuaded him to invest over ₹30 crore in the film project, promising significant returns that were never realised. The defence, however, argued that multiple films were part of the agreement and that progress had already been made on some of them.
