Jolt To Jayaprada, HC Refuses Stay On 6 Month-Jail Term

In a shocker to actress-politician Jayaprada, the Madras High Court has refused to stay the 6-month prison term in the ESIC dues case.

On Friday, the Madras High Court delivered a significant setback toJayaprada and her associates who were involved with the now-defunct Jayaprada Cine Theatre in Chennai. Their plea to suspend the six-month simple imprisonment, which had been imposed on them by a Metropolitan Magistrate in Chennai on August 10, 2023, due to their failure to pay dues to the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), was rejected. The HC ordered Jayaprada and her associates to surrender within 15 days and ordered to deposit Rs 20 lakh amount towards the dues. Jayaprada and her partners reportedly owe Rs 37.68 lakh dues to the former employees. 

While paying salaries to the employees of the theatre, the management had cut ESI from their salaries. But after the theatre’s operations were shut, the management had not paid the ESI amount to the respective employees. The employees have approached the Labour Government Insurance Corporation in this issue. Taking the issue seriously, the Corporation has knocked the doors of the court.

Justice G Jayachandran, in his ruling, emphasized that the case's history justified the dismissal of the petitions submitted by the convicted individuals, who were contesting the Principal Sessions Court's decision not to suspend their sentence. He highlighted that these partners had successfully prolonged the legal dispute for a staggering 18 years by persistently filing petitions to delay the payment of their statutory obligations.

It can be noted that Jayaprada has been contemplating to enter AP politics and her pro-TDP statements have garnered lukewarm response.

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