Bombay High Court restrains Mumbai Police from filing chargesheet against Kannada actor Dhruva Sarja

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday restrained the Mumbai Police from filing a chargesheet against Kannada actor Dhruva Sarja in a cheating case. 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad said that the chargesheet cannot be filed without the Court's permission.

Notably, last month, a bench of justices AS Gadkari and Rajesh S Patil had directed Sarja to deposit the ₹3.10 crore with the court to demonstrate his bona fides before his plea could be considered. 

The case relates to an FIR registered by the Mumbai Police last month on a complaint filed by Mumbai-based producer-director Raghvendra Hegde. 

He accused Dhruva Sarja (also known as Dhruva Kumar) of cheating and criminal breach of trust, alleging that between 2016 and 2018, he advanced ₹3 crore to Sarja for a film project titled 'The Soldier'. However, the project never materialised and Sarja failed to either complete the film or return the money. 

With interest at 18% per annum since 2018, Hegde has claimed the total losses have ballooned to over ₹9 crore. 

Sarja’s legal team admitted receipt of the ₹3 crore but contended that no workable script was delivered until December 2023, and argued that the delays were not due to the actor’s unwillingness to proceed.