Actor Mohan Babu sentenced to 1-yr jail term in cheque bounce case

A local court Tuesday sentenced well-known Telugu actor-producer M Mohan Babu to one-year imprisonment in a 2010 cheque bounce case.

The 23rd Special Magistrate Court here also directed him to pay a fine of Rs 41.75 lakh in connection with the case filed by Telugu director Y V S Chowdary.

Mohan Babu's film production company, Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures, which was also named in the case, was directed to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 to the complainant, Chowdary's advocate K Satya Saibaba said.

'Devadasu' fame Chowdary had filed the complaint after he received Rs 1.10 crore out of Rs 1.60 crore remuneration that was offered by the film company for directing Telugu film 'Saleem', starring Manchu Vishnu, Ileana DCruz, among others.

The movie was released in December 2009.

For the remaining amount, Mohan Babu had given a cheque of Rs 40.50 lakh, which got returned for "insufficient" funds, the counsel said.

The court sentenced Mohan Babu to one year in jail besides directing him to pay the fine.

After a plea was filed seeking suspension of the order, the court allowed it and suspended its order for one month to enable the petitioner to go for appeal in a higher court.

The actor had joined the main opposition YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh last month.