SC Grants Bail to Vikram Bhatt’s Wife in Rs 30 Crore Cheating Case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to film producer Vikram Bhatt’s wife Shwetambari Bhatt in a cheating case involving alleged misappropriation of over Rs 30 crore.

The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered his immediate release from Udaipur jail and asked the Chief Justice Udaipur to issue a bail order specifying the terms and conditions. The court also issued notice to the Rajasthan Police and the complainant Ajay Murdia, founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre, seeking their responses by February 18.

Murdia alleged that Bhatt and his wife encouraged him to invest more than Rs 30 million in a proposed biopic of his late wife by promising high returns.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, speaking on behalf of the Bhatts, alleged that the principal, his wife and others were jailed in the case. The state lawyer opposed the plea saying, “It is not that simple…Rs 30 crore is a fraud.”

The court observed: “But you cannot use these cases to recover the money… Unfortunately, they (the petitioners) did not seek quashing of the FIR. How was Rajasthan singled out? It is very unfortunate.” He ordered that the complainant be indicted as a party to the petition.

On January 31, the Rajasthan High Court had rejected the bail applications of the accused, observing that granting bail at this stage would not be appropriate.

The Bhatts were arrested in Mumbai on December 7, 2025, and brought to Udaipur. The complaint alleges that funds amounting to approximately Rs 30 billion received on behalf of a film project were misappropriated through fake invoices and transferred to the accused’s accounts instead of being used in the production of the film.

Besides the Bhatts, Udaipur-based Dinesh Kataria and Bhatt’s manager Mehboob Ansari were also arrested on December 7, 2025.