The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and his wife Shwetambari Bhatt in connection with an alleged Rs 30 crore fraud case.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered their immediate release. The Court listed the matter for further hearing on February 19.
Authorities arrested the couple at their Mumbai residence on December 7, 2025. Police later transferred them to Rajasthan following a complaint lodged by a Udaipur-based doctor.
The complainant alleged that Bhatt had defrauded him of several crores on the pretext of producing a film.
On January 31, the Rajasthan High Court rejected the bail pleas of Vikram Bhatt, his wife and another accused.
The High Court held that granting bail at that stage would be inappropriate as the investigation remained ongoing.
A police FIR was registered on November 17 at Bhupalpura Police Station, Udaipur.
Dr Ajay Murdia, owner of the Indira Group and Indira IVF, filed the complaint against Bhatt and eight others.
Dr Murdia alleged that Bhatt and his associates raised funds to produce a biopic based on his wife. He stated that Dinesh Kataria introduced him to the proposal. He later met Bhatt at Vrindavan Studio in Mumbai.
Bhatt allegedly assured him that an investment of Rs 7 crore could yield four films with projected returns of Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore.
Following this assurance, the complainant transferred Rs 2,45,61,400 to accounts linked to Bhatt’s team through multiple transactions.
The complaint further alleged that Indira Entertainment paid Rs 42,70,82,232 despite an agreed production cost of Rs 47 crore.
Investigators claim that only two films were completed and released. The third project, titled Vishwa Virat, remains approximately 25 per cent complete.
The fourth film, Maharana-Ran, has not commenced production.
Bhatt allegedly misappropriated Rs 25 crore earmarked for the fourth film.
The FIR names Krishna Bhatt, Dinesh Kataria, Mehboob Ansari, Mudit Buttan, Gangeshwar Lal Srivastava and Ashok Dubey among the accused.
The Supreme Court’s interim relief offers temporary respite as legal proceedings continue.
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